The Losing Team
by greypolkadots
Summary: Arizona returns from Africa and tries to get her life back.  What happens when she finds out what happened while she was gone?  Arizona and Alex find themselves in an unlikely friendship and maybe more?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm back! Another story idea came to me during a long run- so everyone can thank marathon training for this story. It will be a slow burn so please don't flame me for all of the Calzona in the beginning. It is an Alex/Arizona story even if it doesn't seem that way at first. This is canon until Arizona's return from Malawi in 7x10 and even then for the first few chapters it will stay with canon except for some added in scenes. I tried not to go into too much detail of things that were actually seen on the show instead adding to the moments surrounding them. As I stated in the beginning of The Runaways - I understand that many readers out there will have a problem pairing Arizona with a man but this is fanfiction for a reason and we're all allowed to have our crack!ships. If you don't want to read an Alex/Arizona story then use the back button on your browser. I appreciate everyone who has messaged me about more stories - please let me know what you think about my newest venture. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**...**

Arizona Robbins wasn't sure what to expect when she showed up on Callie Torres' doorstep that fall night. She had only been in Malawi for a month when she realized what a terrible mistake she had made by leaving her girlfriend at the airport. Arizona found that life without Callie wasn't easy in Africa. While she loved the work she was doing with the clinic, she was crying everyday. She thought that over time the tears would stop but they didn't – they just kept falling harder. It was then that she realized that crying for three years straight wasn't an option and she came up with a plan to return to Seattle.

Arizona's first order of business when she landed in Seattle was finding Callie and making things right. Teddy Altman was the only person from Seattle that Arizona had kept in touch with after she left for Africa and thanks to Teddy, Arizona knew that Callie had moved in across the hall from their old apartment with her best friend Mark Sloan. After a day and a half of traveling, Arizona found herself staring at the door to Callie's new home. Her new home because Callie had given up her apartment to move with Arizona to Malawi before Arizona told her she didn't want her to come on the adventure with her. Arizona kept staring at the door in front of her. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. It was a familiar door to her as she used to live right across the hall from it. She had been in that apartment at least a hundred times over the last two years. She never felt nervous looking at that door before but at that moment, as she tried to gain her courage to face Callie, her stomach was in knots. Arizona had spent the last week in Malawi counting down the hours and minutes until she would see Callie again. She was so excited to see her ex-girlfriend's beautiful face again but as she stood outside of apartment 501 she just couldn't bring herself to knock on it. She didn't know what kind of reaction she would get from her lover. She hoped with everything that she had that Callie would be just as happy to see her as she would be to see the Latina but she also had to be realistic – she knew that Callie was hurt by her actions. So Arizona did what she knew best and had spent the long plane trip back home to Seattle preparing a speech to win Callie back. It was a good speech and she was sure it was enough to win back Callie's heart because it had to be; she couldn't let herself believe that Callie wouldn't take her back. After one last pep talk, Arizona decided she had to bite the bullet. She knocked on the door that had been taunting her for the last fifteen minutes and was rewarded moments later by finally getting to see the face that she had spent the last seven weeks dreaming about. She immediately started into her planned spiel and couldn't help but notice the multitude of expressions on Callie's face. After she finished her speech she watched as Callie didn't say a word and then the door that had just brought her the most beautiful vision she had seen in weeks was closed. Arizona's face fell and she sighed as she realized that getting her girlfriend back wouldn't be as easy as she thought. She didn't expect to be welcomed back with open arms but she didn't expect to have the door slammed in her face either.

Arizona didn't move for minutes. She stood there and stared at the door again. It was still taunting her. She didn't want to leave in case Callie changed her mind and wanted to talk to her. After an hour of sitting outside the apartment Arizona decided Callie wasn't coming out for her. She debated camping out outside the door but decided that she would be able to fight for her love much better if she got a decent night of sleep. Arizona cast one last glance at Callie's door before turning around and heading out to find a hotel. Sleep didn't come easily for Arizona that night. She kept replaying the two minutes that she had spent with Callie over and over again. She couldn't get the Latina's face out of her head. She recalled how when Callie first opened the door she looked surprised but happy to see Arizona but over the course of her speech Callie's face turned more and more sullen before she ultimately shut the apartment door. After hours of tossing and turning in the empty hotel room, Arizona gave up on sleep and again found herself waiting outside of apartment 501. And again, Arizona found herself unwanted by the woman she wanted the most.

During her weeks in Malawi, whenever Arizona had any down time, Callie was all that Arizona thought about. She tried to only think about the happy times but at night when she was sleeping she'd have nightmares about how they left things. She would see Callie's face begging Arizona to not walk away from her and their relationship. Arizona knew how much reliving that memory hurt her so she knew that Callie's pain at being the one left behind had to be much worse. After having the apartment door shut on her the night before, Arizona did not expect getting Callie back to be easy. All she wanted to do was to be able to talk to Callie; to have a discussion about what went wrong with their relationship and how she would fix it. But Callie made it painfully clear to Arizona that she did not want to talk to Arizona.

**…**

Arizona knew that it was going to take time to gain Callie's heart again and even more importantly to gain her trust again. To be able to have that time to win Callie back she needed a job in Seattle and headed straight for her old hospital. She was shocked that she didn't receive a warm welcome back by Chief Webber. In fact, the only person that seemed to be happy to have Arizona back from Malawi was her protégée Alex Karev. Alex was the only person to smile when they saw her again. He was the only one to be excited for her to be back. Arizona was grateful that there was at least one person in her life that she didn't have to work hard to gain their trust back.

She hadn't been back in the United States for twenty-four hours and she had already been rejected by Callie three times. She suffered through a long surgery having to stand right next to the woman that she just wanted to kiss and hold. When Arizona watched Callie walk away from her that night she vowed to keep fighting. She was going to do what she had told Callie she would do – she would tell Callie every day how sorry she was for hurting her so badly and how much she loved her.

At the end of a very long few days of travel and then a day working side by side with the love of her life the last thing Arizona wanted to do was to go home to a foreign and empty hotel room. She wanted to be with Callie at home in their apartment. But that apartment wasn't home anymore. Strangers she had met only once to sign the sublet contract were now calling apartment 502 home. And the one person that could make anyplace home, even a stale, boring hotel room didn't want to have anything to do with her. Arizona just couldn't face an empty hotel room just yet so she made her way across the street to the Emerald City Bar. Arizona hoped that after a night of drinking, she would be able to forget that she had royally screwed up her life.

Walking into Joe's bar was as close to home as Arizona was going to get that night. She recognized many of the patrons inside the bar from the hospital as she entered but only as acquaintances. She figured that it being a Tuesday night she probably wouldn't have to deal with running into any of her coworkers and their evil looks as they all took Callie's side in the breakup. Arizona even found that her best friend at Seattle Grace-Mercy West was icing her out. Teddy wanted to remain neutral in the Callie versus Arizona war and was thus keeping some distance from the pediatric surgeon. Arizona was grateful that no one was there that would want to bother her. She was not in the mood to be social that night. She took a seat at the end of the bar and ordered two beers. She could hear the laughter and chatter of the busy bar surrounding her but she was in her own little world surrounded only by her own demons. The only person that she was concerned with was Joe and making sure he kept putting the drinks in front of her. Over two hours and six drinks had passed when Arizona felt someone sit down on the bar stool next to her. She could feel eyes burning into the back of her head.

Without looking up from the half empty glass in front of her, Arizona told off the person who she was expecting to try to hit on her, "Look, I'm sure you're a nice person but I just want to be alone tonight."

"That's not going to happen, Dr. Robbins," the familiar voice spoke. "Because tonight is trivia night and my date stood me up so I need a partner and lucky you – you're it."

Arizona's eyes moved from her drink to meet the eyes of the man next to her. "Karev…," Arizona sighed, really not wanting to deal with anyone.

"We're not going to talk. We're just going to kick some ass at trivia together." Alex said as he made eye contact with Joe to get a beer. "You know the prize is a hundred dollar bar tab. I think your half of that could cover at least some of the damage you're doing tonight," Alex finished as he pointed to all of the empty bottles in front of her.

Arizona raised her eyebrows, "No talking?"

"Only if you want to," Alex said as he took a swig of beer. "I only want to win some free beer."

"Okay."

Alex smiled and asked Joe for a team entry form. He started filling it out when he came to a blank that needed an answer, "What's our team name?"

"I don't care. You pick," Arizona answered as she continued to stare at her beer.

Alex frowned. This was not the same Arizona Robbins that he knew. This Arizona Robbins was downright depressing. He hadn't seen her smile all day. Not even when she was speaking to her patients. The Arizona that he knew would have immediately given them a corny team name – something that he would be embarrassed to say out loud in a room full of adults. She was always good at playing with the kids at work and helping them to name the stuffed animals that they would get as get well presents. Names like Princess Buttercup and Mr. Gregory Blueberry would roll off of her tongue without any thought. For Arizona not to want a say in their team name was not like the woman that left for Africa a couple of months earlier.

A light bulb went off in Alex's head and he quickly filled it in and passed it back to Joe who handed him their official answer sheets. Alex turned to his partner, "You know you're going to have to take your eyes off of your beer to play. I promise you that your good buddy isn't going to go anywhere. I expect you to help me with all of the girly questions."

Arizona looked up at him and rolled her eyes, "I bet I get more of the manly sports questions right than you do."

"We'll see about that Dr. Robbins," Alex scoffed at his sports trivia knowledge being questioned.

"Karev – we're not at the hospital, you don't have to be so formal. And you want to bet on that?"

"Competition within our own team, Robbins?" Alex questioned. He couldn't bring himself to call her Arizona to her face. She was still his superior after all. Calling her Arizona when talking about her behind her back was one thing – but not to her face. "That doesn't help team unity."

"Sounds like someone knows that they would lose."

"Fine. Whoever gets the most sports questions right and the fastest gets the full prize, no splitting it," Alex stuck his hand out to his mentor.

Arizona grasped his hand and shook, "Easiest hundred bucks I've ever made."

Two hours and many drinks later Arizona claimed victory in the sports trivia competition. Sadly, Team Hardcore came in third place overall and thus there was no bar tab for Arizona to claim as her prize.

"It's not fair," Alex whined. "That shouldn't count as a sports question."

"It was about football!" Arizona exclaimed, nearly spitting out her beer in excitement over her victory. All of the hours spent being forced to watch sports because her older brother was bigger than her and would sit on her if she tried to change the channel paid off as she easily beat Alex on sports trivia.

Alex shook his head, "It was about cheerleading. That is not a sport."

"It was about football!" Arizona protested. "It's not my fault that you didn't know that the Cowboys were the first football team to have a professional cheerleading squad. Plus, I totally schooled you on the baseball question too."

"Only because you went to Hopkins and the question was about the Orioles."

Arizona shook her head wildly, "Face it Karev. A girl beat you in sports knowledge. I think you owe me a drink."

"That wasn't the deal," Alex protested. Arizona started to interrupt when Alex continued, "But because I'm a nice guy, I'll get you another. More beer or you want something harder?"

Arizona nodded. "Beer is good. Thanks, Alex."

"It's just a drink, Robbins. Even as a lowly resident I can afford it."

"Not just for the drink. You're the only person who actually seemed happy to have me back today."

Alex handed Arizona her drink and tipped his own beer bottle toward her to clink their glasses together, "I am happy to have you back. Stark is horrible. He already hated me before today and I'm sure after what we pulled in the OR it is only going to get worse."

"I think he hates me more than you so that should give you a free pass."

Alex noticed that Arizona was starting to get depressed again. As the trivia game started earlier in the evening he watched as Arizona started to come out of her sadness and had almost been the old Arizona that he recognized by the end of it. She took no mercy in taunting the other teams around the bar and she even had no problem taunting Alex over their sports bet. But as soon as the game was over, she reverted back to the sullen woman that was sitting at the end of the bar all alone when Alex had come in. He had heard the rumors throughout the day at the hospital; that Arizona had come back for Callie who wanted nothing to do with her. He watched Arizona down the drink that he had gotten for her. She looked woozy as she sat on her barstool.

"Can I help you get home?" Alex asked as he looked at his watch. It was midnight and he knew that they both had to be at the hospital the next morning.

"I don't have a home anymore," Arizona said sadly as she motioned Joe over to settle up her tab.

Once Joe had given her her card back, Arizona went to stand from the stool and put her jacket on. She was immediately wobbly on her feet as she started to feel the full effects of all of the alcohol she had been drinking.

Alex reached out to help stabilize her, "Where are you staying?"

"Archfield," she mumbled as she struggled to get her arm into the sleeve of her jacket.

"That's on my way," Alex said as he moved to walk outside with his boss.

"I'm okay. I think I'm going to walk. It's only a few blocks."

"I'll walk with you."

"I'm a grown woman, Karev. I'm older than you. I can make it six blocks on my own," Arizona started to argue.

Alex immediately stopped her, "You are, but it is past midnight and you've had a lot to drink. If something happens while you walk to the hotel alone I would never forgive myself." Alex didn't want his boss to know that he actually cared about her so he decided to bring it back to himself, "Plus, I just got you back and I'd like to keep you around for awhile. You're my new heat shield from Stark."

By the time Alex finished his speech, Arizona realized they had already walked two blocks and were almost to the hotel. It would be pointless to try to argue with Alex with only a few blocks to go. They walked the last four blocks in silence before arriving at The Archfield. Alex wanted to make sure that Arizona made it all the way to her room without incident but settled for just making sure she got into the hotel okay.

"Thanks Karev," Arizona shouted as she walked toward the large hotel door.

Alex nodded his head, "You know every Tuesday is trivia at Joe's. Maybe next week we can rematch? I need to kick your ass to make up for tonight."

"Yeah, maybe," Arizona nodded as she turned back to walk into her hotel.

"See you tomorrow, Dr. Robbins."

**…**

For the next week Arizona was hyper aware of Callie's location in the hospital at all times but she did not approach her ex-girlfriend. Instead, she tried to weaken Callie's resolve by having an intern or resident bring her her favorite coffee with an "I'm sorry. I love you." note scrawled on the side of the cup. She would slip notes into Callie's locker – notes that Arizona had written to Callie while she was in Africa but never got the nerve up to mail. The one thing she didn't do was confront Callie herself. She needed to give Callie the space that she knew the hot tempered woman needed to process Arizona's return. By the end of the week, Arizona watched as April passed Callie the coffee that Arizona had bought her and for the first time all week, Callie didn't immediately throw the coffee in the trash. Instead, she watched as Callie lifted the lid, sniffed it and then sipped the warm liquid before going about her morning rounds. Arizona saw that a sign that Callie was starting to crumble; that maybe soon Callie would be willing to talk to her.

After watching Callie actually accept her gift that morning, Arizona decided to approach her again and see if she could get her to talk and have a real conversation about their relationship. Arizona checked the OR board and saw that Callie was scheduled to be out of surgery at four o'clock that afternoon. Arizona was on until six but she made sure that she was in the Attendings' Locker Room at ten before four so that she could just happen to be there when Callie would be coming in to leave for the day. Just like Arizona had planned, at four, Callie pushed open the door to the room and immediately headed for her locker without giving the blonde a glance. Arizona knew that Callie saw her. They were the only two people in the room. She couldn't miss her but Callie was definitely pretending that she wasn't in the room.

"Callie, can we talk? Please?" Arizona asked as she moved from the bench she was sitting on to lean against the wall near Callie.

Callie tugged her bag out of her locker and slammed the door, "I don't have anything to say to you, Arizona."

"I love you," Arizona stated simply as Callie finally made eye contact with her.

"You left me. You broke up with me. You don't get to love me anymore," Callie retaliated as she didn't want to hear about love from the woman that broke her heart.

"Give me a chance to fix this. To fix us," Arizona reached out to grab Callie's hands. She could feel the spark that was still between them as she held them in her hands. It was the first time they had touched in two months and the electricity was still there – even Callie couldn't deny that.

Callie quickly pulled her hands away and lifted them to rub at her temple, "I can't do this, Arizona. It's been a really long day. I'm tired and I have a killer headache." Callie sighed as she looked at the dejected woman next to her. "Just not today."

"I'm not going anywhere, Callie." Arizona said with a small smile thinking that she was right, that Callie might just be softening toward her. "When you're ready… I'll be here."

Callie gave Arizona a slight nod, "Goodnight, Arizona."

Arizona watched as Callie left the room and then sat back down on the bench to overanalyze the three minute interaction. She questioned what Callie meant by her phrase "just not today." She wondered if that meant that she would talk on another day because if she didn't want to talk to her at all she could have just said that she didn't want to talk.

Arizona shook her head and willed herself to stop thinking about Callie. Overanalyzing every word of the conversation had her feeling like a high school student with a crush and she didn't want to be that girl again. The girl that just fantasized about the girl but didn't get the girl. Arizona had to believe that she would get her girl again.

**...**

Though the interaction was slight, the conversation with Callie left her feeling better than she had all week. She was rejuvenated as she went back to work for the last two hours of her shift. She made her way back up to the pediatric floor with a spring in her step. She found Alex waiting for her with the chart of a recently admitted patient that needed a simple appendectomy. Still feeling happy from Callie actually having a short conversation with her and knowing that Stark was already gone for the day, Arizona decided to let Karev take the appendectomy and fly solo. She watched from the corner of the operating room while Karev performed the procedure flawlessly. While an appendectomy is one of the simplest surgeries to do, it was still the first time Alex had performed a surgery without any guidance from an attending surgeon.

"Thank you Dr. Robbins. That was amazing," Alex couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he scrubbed out.

Arizona smiled, "You did well. I'm sure Stark will have my ass about this tomorrow but I don't care."

Alex had finished drying his hands and held the scrub room door open for his superior. "You know it's trivia night. You want to rematch on the sports questions?"

"I don't think so, Karev."

"I can understand," Alex nodded. "I'd be afraid of losing to me too after watching how well I kicked that surgery's ass."

Arizona laughed, "It was an appendectomy, Karev. Not exactly brain surgery."

Alex began to squawk like a chicken at Arizona who continued to shake her head at him. He finally stopped when the nurses started staring at him, "What are you going to do tonight? Go order room service, eat a tub of ice cream and watch reruns of Friends?"

"No, I prefer How I Met Your Mother, thank you very much," Arizona mumbled almost ashamed at how close Alex's words resembled her plan for the night.

"Well as the great Barney Stinson would say 'Suit up! And get to MacLarens.' Or in our case Joe's. I'll meet you in the lobby in fifteen," Alex said as he turned around and walked down toward the stairwell without giving Arizona a chance to argue with him.

Arizona stood in shock for a moment. She couldn't believe that Alex Karev had basically just told her that she was lame. Against her initial wishes, fifteen minutes later, Arizona found herself waiting in the lobby for Alex Karev.

**...**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you for all the positive feedback on the last chapter! Again, sorry for all of the Calzona here at the start of the story but since this is starting in canon, it can't be avoided. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.**  
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**…**

After ten days of living in a hotel, Arizona finally got tired of it. She was tired of itchy sheets and tiny bottles of hotel brand shampoo. Plus, her hotel bill was getting ridiculously out of hand. Since their talk in the locker room, Callie didn't out right try to avoid her in the hospital like she had been before; she no longer ducked into supply closets when she saw Arizona walking down the hall. Callie appeared to be warming up to her ex-girlfriend. Arizona decided she needed to make a grand gesture to Callie. She needed to do something to win her back. After paying for an expensive dinner and handing over a check that would make her bank account cry, Arizona had bought out the subletters that were living in her and Callie's old apartment. She even paid them extra if they could move out immediately. Arizona hoped that Callie would appreciate the gesture of getting their home back for them.

Arizona was wrong. She was terribly wrong.

What had been a good morning for Arizona took a gigantic turn for the worse after Callie told her off while she had been trying to move back into their old apartment. It didn't get any better when she got to work and saw that she would have to work with Callie's best friend all day. As the day continued she felt like the entire world was out to get her as even Karev, her ally in the hospital, had chosen Mark's side in the debate over surgical options for her patient. Throughout the day she had to listen to Mark tell her everything that was wrong with her. It was hard to listen to him but she knew that he made valid points. She was willing to do whatever it took to get Callie back.

And then her already bad day turned into a day that would rival that of one in one of her favorite books, _Alexander's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day_. Callie rocked her world and not in a good way. Callie dropped the baby bomb on her in an elevator and Arizona couldn't escape. She was trapped by the four walls of metal. She couldn't bail like she had wanted to even though she had just said she was done bailing. She couldn't do much of anything. She couldn't form words. She couldn't move. She didn't know how long she rode the elevator up and down. And up and down. At some point, Callie got off the elevator after telling Arizona that she would talk to her in the morning. For the first time since she returned to Seattle the last thing Arizona wanted to do was talk to Callie. She didn't even want to think about her. The only way Arizona knew to get Callie out of her head was to drink and to drink heavily.

**…**

When Alex walked into Joe's that night he knew that something was obviously wrong when he saw Arizona surrounded by shot glasses at the bar. He had only seen Arizona drink beer or mixed drinks before so seeing shot glasses meant that something was really bothering her. He knew that Arizona had a tough day. He was in surgery with her and listened to her and Mark Sloan talk about her faults and how to get Callie back. But he didn't think that talking about her faults could be the cause of all of the empty shot glasses that were in front of Arizona.

"You plan on growing gills, Dr. Robbins? You're drinking more than a fish." Alex asked as he sat down next to Arizona.

Arizona picked up another shot glass and tipped it into her mouth. "Leave me alone, Karev."

Alex shrugged off his jacket and got the barkeeper's attention, "Two beers, Joe." After getting his drink order in, he spoke to the woman next to him, "Cassidy is doing well. I just did her post-op check."

"I don't care, Karev. I'm not at work. Just let me get drunk in peace tonight," Arizona said softly. She sounded like she had been defeated by life that day.

Alex turned his barstool to look at the blonde who was resting her head against the bar while staring at another shot glass full of clear liquid. Alex grabbed the shot she was staring at and downed it. "We can get drunk in peace together."

Arizona picked up her head, "Shouldn't you be sexing up your med student right now?"

"Already did."

Arizona smirked, "That was quick."

"Eh, just an on-call room quickie. She wasn't worth anything more than that."

Arizona rolled her eyes at Alex's chauvinistic comments, "What do women see in you?"

"Girls like the bad boys. I mean, look at you. Callie's got that hot badass vibe going for her and you fell for her."

"Do not say her name," Arizona snapped. She was trying her best to keep that name and everything associated with her out of her head. For a split second she couldn't help but agree with Alex in her head; badasses were hot. Arizona shook the image of Callie in her leather jacket out of her head. She needed more drinks to forget about her, "Joe! Four more shots, please."

"Make that eight, Joe," Alex added to her order. "I need to catch up," he told Arizona when she gave him a funny look.

"I know why I'm getting drunk tonight, Alex. Why are you?"

"Because no one should get drunk alone. That's just depressing. Plus it's not like I have anything else to do on my night off."

"What about all of your friends?" Arizona asked with glassy eyes, the alcohol had finally started to hit her.

Alex shrugged, "Meredith is obsessed with trying to get pregnant. Cristina is still messed up from the shooting. And I wouldn't consider Jackson and April friends." Alex noticed the look of pity Arizona was giving him and didn't want it. "I'm good doing my own thing."

"Getting drunk every night? That can't be good for you," Arizona remarked.

"You're one to talk, Robbins. You're going to need a liver transplant by the time Callie finally takes you back."

"I don't know if I want her to even take me back anymore," Arizona sighed before realizing that she was talking about the one person that she didn't want to talk about. "And what is with you trying to get me to talk about her?"

"Everyone can see how sad you are. Even the kids notice. Maybe if you talk about it you won't be so sad anymore. Or maybe I can help you get her back. I don't think Mark was doing such a good job with that today. You're one of the nicest people I know. Sure you can be a hardass at work but that's because you care about the kids so much. Mark was way off base with some of those comments."

At the sound of Mark's name Arizona's stomach flipped and she growled, "I can't believe I listened to anything that jackass had to say. I'm sure he and Callie are having a good laugh at me right now as he tells her how he spent the day telling me how awful of a girlfriend I am. All while he's been sleeping with her. He didn't waste any time in getting into her pants."

Alex's ears perked up at the last part, "She's sleeping with him?"

"Yep," Arizona said before she downed another shot.

Alex pushed his bar stool closer to Arizona's as her head fell against the bar. "I'm really sorry, Arizona. I can't believe she's stupid enough to sleep with him again."

"Stupid. Very, very stupid," Arizona muttered as she lifted her head back up and gazed at her drinking buddy with tear filled eyes. "Tell me Alex, how do two doctors fail to use a condom? If not only to prevent pregnancy but STDs as well – especially knowing how much Sloan sleeps around. I'll give them that in the heat of the moment they forgot or just didn't have one nearby, but as doctors they should also know about the magic morning after pill. How the _fuck _does that happen Alex?"

Alex put his hand on Arizona's back as she flopped her head against the bar again. He was worried she was going to cause a light concussion if she kept that up. "Callie's pregnant," he said at almost a whisper.

Arizona nodded her head against the bar.

"Do you want me to kick his ass for you?" Alex asked. He couldn't believe that Mark and Callie were so stupid to get pregnant. He wanted to throttle Sloan for the utterly destroyed Arizona Robbins that was sitting next to him at the bar.

Arizona laughed, "If only that could change this shitty, shitty, _shitty _situation."

"What are you going to do?"

Arizona lifted her head and grabbed the last shot on the bar, "Keep drinking until I can't remember that Callie Torres even exists."

Alex didn't try to get Arizona to stop drinking. After she told him that Callie was pregnant with Sloan's baby he knew that she deserved a night of forgetting her problems. He knew that all three of them were at fault for the pregnancy but that didn't mean that Arizona had to be happy about it. Sure, if she hadn't left Callie at the airport in the first place none of it would have happened but that doesn't take the sting away from his mentor. But for the night, vodka could help to lessen the hurt for the broken woman.

**…**

Getting Arizona home after she tried to drink Joe out of his vodka supply wasn't an easy task for Alex Karev. She was a feisty drunk that night and wanted to do the complete opposite of what Alex asked of her. When Alex asked her to put on her jacket, she threw it on the ground. When he tried to get her to walk up the stairs to her apartment because the elevator didn't seem to be working, she stopped in her tracks and wouldn't budge. Alex concluded that wasted Arizona reverted to acting like a four year old. When Arizona absolutely refused to walk up the stairs, Alex had to resort to desperate measures; he picked Arizona up and flung her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Arizona was not pleased with Alex carrying her up the stairs; she voiced her displeasure by slurring a string of curse words at him and pounding on his back with her fists. By the time they had made it up the four sets of stairs, Alex was sure that he would have a nasty bruise on his back from where Arizona kept smacking him. As they reached the top of the stairs Arizona was finally successfully able to get Alex to put her down; only the way in which she went about it was not good for either of them. In her determination to not be carried, Arizona gave up on slapping Alex on the back and instead went to tickle his sides. In doing so she learned a secret about him – Alex Karev was very ticklish. The sudden feeling of tiny fingers digging into his sides and tickling caught him off guard and the two of them both ended up hitting the floor in front of Arizona's apartment with a loud thud that shook the ground around them.

All of the noise the pair made as they made their way up the stairs and then the falling to the ground was enough to wake up the neighbors. Callie flung the door open intent on yelling at whoever was making so much noise at one in the morning but when she saw Alex Karev on his knees helping Arizona to find her keys all she could do was stand in the doorway and stare. She noticed Arizona's messy hair and smeared makeup. She could smell the alcohol from the pair from her spot across the hall. She could tell that Arizona had been drinking her sorrows away. Callie frowned as she looked at the disheveled woman on the floor and knew that she was the cause of all of her current pain. As angry as she was at her ex-girlfriend for leaving her in an airport, those feelings melted away when she saw how broken Arizona was that night.

Alex heard the door across the hall open and his eyes rose to meet Callie's as he gave her a shrug and went back to searching through Arizona's purse for her keys. Once he found the key, he unlocked the door and ushered Arizona inside before Arizona could notice that Callie was standing there watching her. Alex looked around the apartment and saw that it was still in shambles from Arizona just having moved in. He had been to the apartment enough times when Cristina lived there that he knew the layout. He pushed boxes aside and led Arizona to her bed and she promptly fell into it. Alex couldn't help but sigh at how sad and hurt Arizona looked as she curled up into her pillow. She looked so fragile as she fell asleep almost as soon as Alex had gotten her into bed. He decided to help her get as comfortable as possible in bed without crossing any boundaries – which simply meant that he took off her shoes and tucked her in under the covers. Before leaving he made sure to leave her a glass of water and some pain killers on the nightstand next to her. She was sure to have a nasty headache in the morning.

Alex was surprised to see Callie still standing in the hallway when he quietly exited the apartment.

"How is she?" Callie asked as she stared at her hands, refusing to make eye contact with Alex. She wasn't sure if Arizona would have told Alex her secret but she felt guilty even if he didn't know. She didn't want to see the look of disgust in his eyes. Callie knew that Alex always had a soft spot for Arizona as she was one of the first people to realize that he could be a great surgeon and had a talent for pediatrics.

Alex wanted to snap at her with a sarcastic comment but he held his tongue. He didn't want Callie to know how badly Arizona was hurt. "She'll be okay. She's going to have a nasty hangover tomorrow but she'll be okay."

Callie turned to go back into Mark's apartment, "Thank you for taking care of her tonight, Karev."

Alex nodded and headed back down the stairs.

**…**

Arizona woke up with the sun shining brightly in her bedroom. She squinted her eyes and tried to rub the headache out of her head. That didn't work. The pounding behind her eyes was still there.

"Even Mother Nature hates me today. It's never sunny in Seattle in the winter. Why does it have to be bright and shiny the one day I am hungover?" Arizona muttered to herself as she turned her body away from the bright light coming through her window. She made a mental note to make sure the curtains were hung up as soon as possible so that her sleep wouldn't be interrupted by the sun again.

As she turned in bed she noticed a glass of water and two pills on her nightstand. She glanced at her cell phone and saw that it was only six in the morning. She didn't have to be at work until eleven and wanted desperately to be able to go back to sleep. She crawled over in bed and quickly gulped down the water and pills before flopping back into her fluffy pillows. After trying for several minutes to fall back asleep but being taunted by her pounding head and the bright light in the room Arizona resigned herself to being awake.

A hot shower sounded like a good idea to help make her feel better and to also get rid of the nasty bar smell that was in her hair. As she stood in the shower letting the hot water soothe the aching muscles in her body she wondered what exactly she did the night before. She remembered going to Joe's, drinking lots of vodka and talking with Alex. Beyond that she had no memory of the night. She wasn't even sure exactly what she and Alex talked about all night. By the end of the shower the pain in her head was slowly going away. She made her way into the kitchen and was grateful that she went to the grocery store the day before. She only had time to stock up on essentials but that was more than enough to make breakfast so that she could deliver the final blow to knock the headache out of her – scrambled eggs with cheese.

Since she had so much time before work thanks to the sun and the hangover waking her up, Arizona set about unpacking her apartment. She refused to give in to Callie and move out. She had legally bought out the subletters so there was no legal way that Callie could kick her out of the apartment. She had done nothing to violate the terms of the lease. Callie simply not liking Arizona was not a good enough reason to break the contract. Plus, she had spent such an enormous amount of money buying them out that she didn't want to have to put down more money on a new place right away. It wasn't until Arizona unpacked a picture frame that contained a photo of her and Callie at Cristina and Owen's wedding that Arizona even let herself think of her ex-girlfriend that morning. Arizona pulled the frame out of the box and sank into the couch as she stared at it. She wondered how the happy couple in the picture had gotten so lost. How they had gone from being so happy and moving in together to yelling at each other in airports and apartment hallways. Arizona knew that they both made mistakes but wondered if they could move past them. She knew that she still loved Callie and she wanted to be with Callie. The unexpected pregnancy didn't change her feelings about that. It made her angry. Very angry. But it didn't change how much she loved her.

Arizona was surprised when she heard her apartment door being opened as she had gotten lost in contemplating the past and the future. She didn't have to turn around to know that it was Callie who had walked into the apartment. She could always sense when Callie was in her immediate vicinity. Arizona watched as Callie sat on the coffee table in front of her. Arizona had things she wanted to say to her former girlfriend. She wanted to tell her how upset she was but Callie didn't let her speak long without interrupting. So instead, Arizona listened to her speak, she even actually heard what she was saying but she was so confused by the beautiful woman in front of her to really understand it. Just the day before, Callie had been shouting at Arizona to get out of her life and now the same woman was asking her to be a part of her plan – to be a part of her life again. Arizona's head was full of questions. She wanted to know what had changed in the last twenty-four hours besides the obvious pregnancy announcement. She wanted to know exactly what Callie's plan involved. But even with all of the questions in her head, Arizona knew that what she wanted above all was to be with Callie so instead of asking those questions and potentially starting another fight, she just said that she was in.

Callie didn't stay long after Arizona's declaration that she would be a part of her plan. She gave Arizona a dazzling smile, placed a chaste kiss on her lips and told her she would see her at work later. Arizona started to protest knowing that they needed to talk more but before Arizona could get over the fact that Callie had kissed her and get the words out to stop her from leaving, Callie was out the door.

**…**

The last seventy-two hours were crazy for Arizona with very little sleep. First the night of the hangover, then moving her girlfriend back in and making up for lost time and finally a very long day of work filled with being on call and dealing with all of the emotions of reuniting with Callie. Arizona entered the loud bar and her eyes set out looking for the one person she had come to see. She practically jumped on the bar stool next to him. This was not the same Arizona Robbins who had been sulking around the bar recently.

"Hey Karev," Arizona greeted. "I just wanted to thank you for getting me home the other night."

Alex looked up from his beer to make eye contact with his boss, "No problem. Can't say I expected to see you here tonight." Arizona raised her eyebrows at him to question him and Alex explained, "Word on the street is that you and Torres are back together. Figured you'd be spending all your time with her being all mushy or some crap like that again."

Arizona stole Karev's beer out from under him and took a drink, "I was planning on that but then I got home and realized that it was Tuesday and Team Hardcore is still winless in trivia. Plus, I kind of owe you for the other night."

"Yeah you do," Alex gruffed and moved to massage his lower back. "I could barely move yesterday because of what you did to my back."

Arizona grimaced. She still wasn't completely sure of what happened on the way home that night. "About that…how exactly did I end up with all these bruises on me?"

"Because, Robbins, you act like a toddler when you are drunk and I had to carry you up the stairs to your apartment. But you weren't happy about being carried and started tickling me which caught me off guard and both of us ended up on the ground." Alex paused before adding, "And not very gracefully. You aren't very soft to land on. Very boney."

Arizona waved Joe over, "Two of whatever Alex is having. I owe him one."

"I think you owe me more than one going by the size of the bruises on my back," Alex interjected.

"Oh poor Karev," Arizona said sarcastically. "Who knew a tiny blonde could beat you up? I thought you were a state champ wrestler?"

Alex grabbed both the beers that Joe put in front of Arizona and smirked leaving Arizona to have to get Joe to get her another beer. As soon as Arizona had her beer the trivia game started and all friendly talk between Alex and Arizona ceased as the two went into game mode and focused on the questions to win. They only talked about potential answers to questions or to take time to mock another team. They were determined to win. They were tired of losing to old ladies who looked like they had been alive during the depression and to the college kids that they weren't even sure were of legal age to be in the bar.

"We're only down by twenty points and this is the last question, Robbins. We need this," Alex emphasized the importance to his teammate like she didn't know that their first win hinged on this question.

"We got this," Arizona said as she watched the reveal of the category for the final question. "Science!" Arizona smiled at Alex and lifted her hand up for a high five, "We totally have this Karev."

Alex chuckled at Arizona's enthusiasm and gave her the high five that she was looking for. He continued to grin when the question came up on the television screen. _Who developed the periodic table? For a ten point bonus also provide the year._

"Lavoisier first published about elements," Alex mused to Arizona as they both racked their brains for the right answer.

"But it wasn't until…" Arizona started to add when Alex joined her and they spoke at the same time. "Mendeleev."

"Mendeleev first published what we call the periodic table today," Alex finished Arizona's thought. "Do you remember the year?"

"I'm thinking," Arizona could feel Alex staring at her – willing her to get the right answer. She whispered to herself and ticked off her fingers as she counted. "1869!" Arizona practically yelled but then whispered as she didn't want to be overheard by their competitors.

"You sure?"

"Totally. I was sleeping with my chem TA in undergrad. She rewarded me for correct answers," Arizona answered without blushing or missing a beat.

"You do surprise me, Robbins," Alex said as he quickly wrote the answer down on their score sheet. He wanted to be the first team to get the answer in, in case more than one team got it right.

Alex and Arizona toasted with their beer glasses as they celebrated Team Hardcore's third trivia loss. Even with the correct answer and bonus answer they still fell in second place. Second place to a team full of barely legal college co-eds. Instead of moping about their loss Arizona and Alex agreed to celebrate it. They seemed to be doomed to be the bridesmaid but never the bride at pub trivia. They were getting pretty good at losing.

"So you and Torres?" Alex asked hoping to get Arizona to spill about their recent reconciliation. He knew he had been working at Seattle Grace-Mercy West for too long when he was asking for gossip.

"Yep," Arizona nodded.

"You're okay with the whole Sloan spawn thing?"

Arizona didn't immediately answer. She took time to think before she spoke. "I'm okay with the whole Torres baby thing. We heard the heartbeat yesterday. It was amazing." Arizona paused again to take a sip of beer. "I used to never want kids but hearing that baby's heartbeat… my baby's heartbeat. It was the best sound that I've ever heard."

"You heard the heartbeat already?" Alex questioned. He didn't think Callie was far enough along to have an OB appointment. Most OBs he knew didn't even see women until they were at least eight weeks pregnant.

"Callie had a bit of a scare yesterday. She freaked out and demanded the poor OB fellow do tests so we got to hear it."

Alex nodded and smiled but focused on the OB fellow part of the statement. "The hot blonde?" He had been watching Lucy Fields from afar for over a month but never had a reason to interact with her.

Arizona chuckled, "Yeah, she's hot if you like blondes. I'm more into brunettes myself."

"You know Robbins," Alex smirked. "You can make up for all the bruises on my back by finding a way to introduce me to her."

Arizona frowned, "You can't date my OB."

"Why not?" Alex gave Arizona a curious look.

Arizona poked Alex in the shoulder with enough force to almost knock him off of his barstool, "Because when you're a jackass and piss her off she's going to blame me. She's in charge of making sure my baby is born healthy. I can't have her pissed off at me."

"You know I'm not really a jackass," Alex felt the need to defend himself. "I mean, I was. But I'm not anymore. I haven't been in awhile. Do I have a lot of one night stands? Maybe. But I'm not rude to them. I treat them well. Women know what they're getting into with me. We both get what we want and then say goodbye at the end of the night or sometimes in the morning."

"Well you're not having a one night stand with Dr. Fields either."

"I don't want a one night stand with her. She seems too classy for that. If I date her, I promise to treat her right," Alex stressed to his boss. He really wanted an introduction to Dr. Lucy Fields. It had been too long since he had been in a real relationship. He and Lexie never really amounted to anything and since the shooting it was all one night stands with the occasional girl that would get to stay the whole weekend. He actually missed waking up to the same woman two days in a row. He missed having someone to talk to at the end of the day. He missed having someone care about him. The closest he had to that these days was the woman he was currently talking to at the bar.

"Alex – I will hurt you if you hurt her. I don't want her taking anything out on this baby."

"So you're going to introduce me?" Alex asked eagerly.

Arizona rolled her eyes, "I'm not going to go out of my way to do it. But if we have any cases that would involve her, I'll make sure that you are on them. At least as much as I can with Stark in charge."

"Best boss ever," Alex grinned as he pushed another beer in front of her.

"Remember that when you guys are doing evaluations on your attendings." Arizona pounded the last of her beer before putting on her jacket, "I should get home."

"Next week?" Alex asked his boss as she started to head toward the door. He was hoping that just because Callie and Arizona had gotten back together that he wouldn't lose his trivia partner. He honestly enjoyed Arizona's company outside of work. It was nice to talk with a girl and not be trying to get into her pants. He thought for sure that because she and Callie had gotten back together that their trivia days were over but she proved him wrong by showing up that night.

"What happens when one of us has to work?" Arizona questioned.

Alex thought for a moment, "Well this is where you being department head would come in handy but since we're still stuck with Stark we'll just have to deal with that as it comes up. Maybe I can get April to help. Stark has a crush on her and she's been doing a lot of time in peds lately."

Arizona laughed, "Okay. It's a standing date then. Nothing like spending one night a week feeling stupid because some drunk college kids or tipsy old ladies kicked our butts at trivia."

"Night, Robbins," Alex spoke to the retreating blonde.

Arizona lifted her hand in a wave as she walked out of the bar. She looked at her watch and realized that it was almost eleven. She didn't intend to stay at Joe's that long. She didn't even intend to stay after trivia was over but then they came so close and of course they had to celebrate. Arizona made the short walk home and hoped that Callie was already asleep. She had texted Callie after her shift ended and told her that she needed to go talk to Alex before she could head home. She didn't expect the talk to turn from one hour into three. While she felt confident about her reunion with Callie she also knew that Callie was already experiencing major hormone swings and she didn't know how the pregnant woman would react to her girlfriend being out all night.

**…**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This will be the last chapter that deals with canon. I wasn't a fan of how the show just finished with Arizona's speech about dreams in 7x16 and didn't pick it back up. They made her such a strong female character that I hated the character assassination they did (to Callie's character too) for this story line. I don't think the Arizona that the show first introduced would have just accepted things and not attempted to stand up for herself. So in my story, I get to change that. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona just wanted a nice, quiet and relaxing night at home with her girlfriend. She wanted to relax on the couch, maybe do some cuddling and possibly even have sex if Callie felt up to it. None of that happened. Instead, Mark Sloan yet again, invaded their evening off together. Arizona was used to Mark hanging out in their apartment. She was used to having him over for dinner. She was even used to him giving her girlfriend foot massages nightly. She had spent all day looking forward to a Mark free night. She knew that he was on call so there was no way that he would invade her alone time with her girlfriend that night. Except, even when he wasn't physically present in their apartment, their conversations still revolved around him. Arizona wasn't going to bring up Mark's name that night but Callie couldn't keep him out of their apartment for even one night.

As they sat on the couch after dinner, Arizona was intent on catching up on the day's news when Callie couldn't help but talk about how great of a dad Mark would be. While Arizona did agree with Callie that he would be a good dad, that didn't mean that she wanted to talk about it during her one night alone her girlfriend. She really needed a Mark-free space that night. What hurt Arizona more than Callie's constant need to talk about Mark during their alone time was how easily she dismissed Arizona's dreams as they spoke. She didn't even ask about her dreams. After Arizona told Callie how having a baby with Mark was not her dream, Callie didn't even acknowledge what she said. Instead, Callie grabbed her wine glass of milk, told Arizona she didn't want to deal with her jealousy issues and stalked into their bedroom where she promptly fell asleep.

Arizona wanted to give Callie time to calm down. She didn't even understand why Callie was mad at her. All Arizona had done was tell her the truth. For the first time since they had gotten back together, Arizona took off the rose colored glasses and told Callie exactly how she felt about their situation. As she sat on the couch all alone and drank her wine, Arizona went over her words in her head. She didn't tell Callie that she didn't want to do this anymore. She didn't tell her that she didn't want the baby. In fact, the opposite, she told Callie that she loved the baby. All she had said is that her dream did not involve three parents. Arizona mused that maybe she should have been specific and said that while it wasn't her dream she was still happy to raise the baby with Callie. Arizona finished her wine and decided to go talk to Callie; to emphasize to Callie that she loved her and the baby.

"Callie?" Arizona called out as she opened their bedroom door. When Arizona saw Callie fast asleep on her side of the bed Arizona sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. Arizona got into bed and stared at the sleeping Callie. She could never get over how gorgeous Callie was. Arizona reached out to tuck a stray hair behind Callie's ear before it could itch her face and wake her up. She let her hand linger on her love's cheek as she took in her beauty for a moment before she felt Callie stir under her touch.

Callie's face twitched and she peeked open an eye, "Arizona?"

"Sorry," Arizona whispered. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay," Callie mumbled. "I didn't mean to fall asleep anyway."

Arizona leaned over and placed a kiss on Callie's lips. "You know that I love you, right?" Callie nodded. Arizona moved her hand to Callie's stomach, "And I love this baby?"

"I know, Arizona. And I know this is not how any of us would have chosen to have a kid," Callie sighed. "But it is what it is. And I'm not going to kick Mark out of the baby's life."

"I'm not asking you for that, Callie," Arizona paused before continuing wanting to choose her words carefully so that she didn't upset the hormonal mess in front of her.

As Arizona paused Callie spoke up, "He's going to be there for all of those things. Sippy cups or bottles. Christmas mornings."

"I know, Callie. But does he need to be here every night to rub your feet? I need some time with my girlfriend… alone. Because soon enough, for the next eighteen years, we won't have any time alone again."

Callie shifted so that she was sitting up in bed leaning against the headboard. "He wants to be involved in the pregnancy, Arizona! Let him."

"How is rubbing your feet being involved? He doesn't need to be here every night to be involved!" Arizona took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down again. She was starting to get angry and that wasn't going to help the situation any.

Callie rolled her eyes, "He isn't here every night. He wasn't here tonight."

"Because he's on call at the hospital. But besides tonight, I can't remember one night that he hasn't been here. Or one morning that he's not here as soon as you're awake."

Callie rolled her eyes again. Arizona was starting to get livid at Callie for dismissing everything that she was saying. She felt like Callie wasn't listening to her. If she was listening to her, she wasn't letting Arizona know that she was. Callie wasn't taking her desires, her wants and her needs seriously. She only seemed to care about Mark's wants and needs. Before Callie could come up with a comeback to Arizona's last statement a shrill beeping filled the other room.

"Saved by the bell," Arizona muttered under her breath. Arizona didn't miss yet another eye roll from Callie as Arizona got off the bed and went into the living room to retrieve her pager.

Callie had already lay back down in bed and was almost asleep again when Arizona returned to the bedroom a few minutes later. Callie noticed that she had her shoes and jacket on with her pager in her hand.

Arizona made her way over to Callie's side of the bed. "I have to go," Arizona nodded to her pager. "It's probably going to be awhile. I'm on at six in the morning so I don't know if I'll be home beforehand or not."

Callie just nodded, "I'll see you sometime tomorrow then."

"Night," Arizona leaned in for a good night kiss. "Sleep well. Love you."

Arizona picked up her umbrella and headed out of the apartment. She frowned as she made her way back to the hospital It didn't go unnoticed to the blonde that her girlfriend didn't tell her that she loved her back. Callie hadn't told her she loved her since they had gotten back together. Arizona didn't know why Callie never said it back. She didn't ask. Part of Arizona felt like she was still earning Callie's love back again. She was so happy that Callie let her back into her life that she didn't want to push things. As she headed to the hospital, all Arizona could do was hope that the emergency that she was paged in for would make her night a little bit better. She really needed a good surgery to rock.

**…**

Arizona quickly changed into scrubs after arriving at the hospital. She instantly felt better when she had them on. She felt like she had an identity as a doctor. She knew her job and she did it well. She felt like herself. When she wasn't at work she had no idea who she was anymore. She was so in love with her girlfriend and was genuinely thrilled at having a baby with her but she couldn't reconcile her feelings about who she was to her girlfriend. She was unsure of herself in her relationship, but when she pulled those navy blue scrubs on she was the confident woman she had always been.

Arizona was pulling her hair into a ponytail when she found Alex Karev waiting for her at the nurses' station on the pediatrics floor.

"Why am I being paged in at nine o'clock on my night off, Karev?" Arizona asked the resident who had handed her a chart.

Alex started walking them toward the patient's room, "Because Stark doesn't answer pages after seven and I wouldn't trust him on this anyway."

The pair stopped outside of one of the hospital room doors so that Alex could bring Arizona up to speed on the case before going to see the family. "Patrick Neimeyer, thirteen months old. Hirschsprung's Disease with a suspected ruptured intestine. I've already done abdominal x-rays and an anal manomentry. Patient is prepped and ready for surgery. I've already spoken to the parents and answered their questions."

Arizona nodded along as Alex explained the case. It was rare to see Hirschsprung's disease in an older child but she could see by reviewing the chart that Alex had made the correct diagnosis. "Let me go say hi to the parents and make sure they don't have any more questions and we can go get started." Arizona smiled as Alex held the door open for her, "Nice diagnosis, Dr. Karev."

**…**

"I hope that I didn't completely ruin your night, Dr. Robbins. I know you were looking forward to your night off," Alex commented as he and Arizona had their hands deep in the infant's abdomen.

Arizona sighed and gave him a tight smile, "You didn't. Nothing good at least." Arizona noticed the stares from the nurses around the operating room. She wasn't about to give them more fodder for gossip than they already had about her, her girlfriend and her girlfriend's baby daddy. The three soon-to-be parents seemed to be all that the hospital was talking about anymore.

Alex could tell that Arizona was holding back. He understood why when he saw that she glanced around the room at all the prying ears. He decided to steer the conversation back to the medical case at hand. "Dr. Robbins, how do you think this case of Hirschsprung's didn't get diagnosed until now when normally it is diagnosed within forty-eight hours of birth?"

Arizona smiled at Alex's attempts to take the spotlight off of her personal life and began to explain some of the many ways that the child's disease could have gone undiagnosed until it became a serious problem for the baby.

Three hours later, Alex and Arizona were scrubbing out after a successful surgery. Patrick would be in a lot less pain on a daily basis and even better they were able to complete the surgery without having to give him a colostomy bag.

Alex leaned against the sink, "Sucks getting called in on your night off. You going to go home and salvage any of it?"

"No," Arizona shook her head. "It's almost one. I'm back on at six so I'll probably just do the paperwork on this surgery and then catch a nap here."

"But you live across the street and the paperwork can wait until you're back at six. Why not go get a few hours in your own bed next to your hot girlfriend?"

"I don't want to wake her up. Not a good idea to mess with a pregnant woman's sleep," Arizona tried to joke and not let on about the fight she had had with her girlfriend.

Alex could tell something was bothering his mentor but he knew better to push her. They had become friendly over the past few months due to the trivia competitions that they still had almost every Tuesday but they never brought their friendliness to the hospital – at least not when others were around. Alex was unsure why they both kept their friendship to themselves but they did. He guessed that Arizona didn't want people thinking she was playing favorites by always having Alex on her service. Most days around the hospital no one would guess that the two were friends. Arizona was very tough on Alex at work. She knew how great he could be and liked to push him to be better. Alex was always respectful of his attending surgeon but would often lash out at her due to her sometimes too high expectations of him. When they were outside of the hospital, they were the only people that each other could talk to without feeling like they were being judged.

Alex followed Arizona out of the scrub room toward the nurses station, "You off in time for tomorrow night? We still need to get our first W."

"Yeah. I'm done at seven so just in time. You?"

"I'm off after morning rounds so I'll definitely be there."

Arizona grabbed Patrick's chart from the nurse and started to flip through it, "I bet you'll be studying your sports questions all day."

"Hey!" Alex caught her attention and made Arizona look up at him. "I'm pretty sure I beat you at sports last week."

Arizona was distracted as she tried to count the number of times that Alex had beaten her at sports trivia. He could always count on her being competitive. He used her being distracted to grab the chart from her.

"What are you doing?" Arizona questioned.

Alex smirked, "The answer is four. Four times I've beaten you at sports trivia. And tomorrow will make five. Get some sleep, Robbins. I'll give you this back," Alex held up the chart and waved it, "at morning rounds."

Arizona growled at him under her breath but knew that he wouldn't give her the chart back until the morning. He was the one person that she had met in her life that was almost as stubborn as she was. Instead of arguing with him she gave him the evil eye before heading off to find an empty on-call room to find some sleep for a few hours.

**…**

After being called in at nine the night before, it had been a very long day for Arizona at work. She wasn't able to get much sleep after the surgery with Alex. She couldn't sleep without being next to Callie but she didn't want to go home and disturb her sleep or at least that is the reason she kept telling herself was why she wasn't going home to sleep. She spent hours looking at the bottom of the bunk on top of her as she tried to sleep in the on call room. She couldn't keep her mind off of the fight that she and Callie were having the night before. She was pissed off at having her one night alone with her girlfriend ruined. She was sick of Callie constantly defending Mark. But most of all, she was sick of feeling like the third wheel in her own relationship.

Arizona knew that it would be coffee that would keep her going throughout the day. She was personally doing her part to pay for the barista's college education. Arizona was happy that it was a busy day on the pediatric floor. She was so busy that she didn't have time to stop and let her fatigue get to her. The morning flew by and before she knew it –

it was lunch time. She headed to the cafeteria in hopes of finding her girlfriend there. Callie was a creature of habit when it came to eating times. If she didn't have surgery she would be eating lunch every day at twelve noon sharp. Arizona wanted to try to make peace with Callie. She didn't like arguing with anyone, let alone her pregnant girlfriend.

It wasn't hard for Arizona to spot her girlfriend in the busy cafeteria. She was the most beautiful woman in the room and Arizona had a sixth sense for always being able to find her immediately. Arizona saw her sitting at a table in the middle of the cafeteria, eating a salad as she worked on a puzzle. Arizona didn't have to see the puzzle book to know that it was sudoku. Callie loved figuring out those number puzzles. She would time herself to see how quickly she could finish one and prided herself on only completing hard or expert puzzles. Just seeing Callie made Arizona feel better. She quickly made her way into the cafeteria line to get some much need sustenance so that she could spend more time with her girlfriend. With her tray loaded down with a healthy salad to give her some energy to get through the day, Arizona headed straight for the table where her girlfriend had been. The smile on Arizona's face fell when she made her way to the table and saw that her girlfriend was no longer there alone. Mark was sitting with her. Not only was Mark sitting with her, Mark was sitting right next to her with his shoulder touching hers. Arizona was steaming. The entire table was empty but Mark had to be sitting practically right on top of her girlfriend. Arizona sighed. She couldn't deal with Mark that day. Not on two hours of sleep. Not after having been fighting with her girlfriend the night before about Mark's constant presence. She didn't have it in her to sit with him and play nice for twenty minutes. Arizona's shoulders slumped in defeat as she turned away from the table, grateful that neither Callie nor Mark had noticed her, and headed out of the cafeteria.

**…**

Arizona had never been more grateful for it to be six o'clock in the evening. She had been at the hospital for twenty-one hours and only had one more to go before she was free for the next thirty-six hours. After her busy morning, the afternoon did not get any easier. She had barely taken two bites of her lunch when she was paged by Stark to the emergency room. She had learned as soon as she returned from Africa that Stark did not like to get his hands dirty. He would much rather spend his days in his office. She didn't know what he did all day in there as it wasn't paperwork; he pushed most of his paperwork onto Arizona. Unless the surgery was ground breaking, Stark refused to do it. The case of appendicitis that came into the ER that afternoon was much below Stark's level of expertise and therefore, Arizona had to do it. Arizona didn't mind the surgeries that she got because Stark refused them; she'd much rather spend her day in the operating room than working on charts. What she did mind was that because of all the time she was spending in the operating room, she had to stay at work late to finish all of her paperwork. Arizona breathed a sigh of relief when Stark left for the day at six. She knew that she had the last hour of her shift to do exactly what she needed to do – paperwork.

Arizona was rocking out to Adele on her iphone when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She almost jumped out of her skin at the intrusion. She smiled when she saw who was interrupting her charting time.

"You scared me!" Arizona said as her hand clutched at her chest. "I'm not late am I? There's no way that I've been sitting here doing paperwork for over an hour."

Alex relaxed into the couch next to her, "Nope. You're not late. I came by to have dinner with Lucy and she got paged to a delivery so I figured I'd come track you down and force you to leave work on time for once."

"Ugh," Arizona groaned. "I'm not sure I'll be done by trivia time. Stark screwed me all day with surgeries and left me no time to do all of these charts that he wants on his desk by the time he comes in tomorrow."

Alex picked up a chart from the pile on the table in front of him. "You have a pen?"

Arizona nodded and handed him a pen from her lab coat. She didn't try to argue with him. She wasn't going to refuse help on getting the stack of charts done.

Alex flipped through the chart in his hand and started filling it in. Arizona watched from the corner of her eye as Alex wrote quickly in the chart and then put it aside. "Don't you need me to sign that, Karev?"

Alex laughed, "I've got your signature down. Stark will never know the difference."

"I don't think I want to know what all you've forged for me," Arizona smiled as she pulled her headphones out of her phone and let the music fill the small room.

With Alex's help the stack of charts quickly got smaller and smaller. They had only a few charts left to do when Arizona noticed the man next to her was humming. She listened closely and could make out the soft words coming from his mouth.

"Alexander Karev! Are you signing along to Adele?" Arizona accused dramatically.

Alex's face turned bright red, "What? No. I don't listen to this garbage."

"I think you do because you just sang the words to Chasing Pavements and that isn't even a recent song of hers. And it was never a really popular song on the radio here in America. You'd only know it if you're a fan and/or have her albums."

"I have no clue what you are talking about, Robbins," Alex tried to play off his knowledge of Adele lyrics.

"Uh huh. It's nothing to be ashamed about, Alex. Adele is awesome. Guys are allowed to like her too." Arizona smirked as she turned her attention back to the chart in her hand.

Alex went back to his chart and hoped that Arizona had let the topic drop. But she didn't. When the chorus came back around on the song, Alex listened as Arizona joined in.

"Should I give up," Arizona started softly but then got louder. "Or should I just keep chasing pavements."

Alex watched as Arizona got into the song. He was impressed with her singing voice. She wasn't the next Britney Spears but she could hold her own. Arizona had long forgotten the chart in her hand as she kept singing along. As the song reached the last few lyrics, Alex couldn't help and join in with the infectious singing.

"Should I leave it there? Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements even if it leads nowhere," the pair gave the song a dramatic finish by drawing out the last words.

The phone immediately shuffled to Rolling In The Deep and Arizona couldn't help but laugh as Alex kept singing along with Adele but this time he sang in a high pitch trying to mimic the singer's intonations. By the time Alex was belting out "We could have had it all," Arizona was on the floor laughing at her friend. It felt good for Arizona to laugh. She wasn't sure the last time she had laughed with an adult. Sure, she'd laugh along at her patients' corny jokes but to have a real laugh with an adult felt really nice.

Alex couldn't make it through the rest of the song as he too had caught the giggles. The two were still laughing when the door opened to the lounge and Callie walked into the room. Alex immediately stopped laughing and pretended to be working on his chart. He could tell by the look on Callie's face that she was not happy.

"Hey," Arizona smiled as she stopped laughing and reached for her phone to turn the volume down so that she could talk with Callie without yelling over the music.

Callie eyed her girlfriend suspiciously as she walked closer to the pair on the couch. Her eyes constantly jumping from Arizona to Alex. "Hey yourself. I've been paging you for the last twenty minutes."

"Sorry, I didn't hear it," Arizona shrugged as she reached for her pager that was in her lab coat that was draped over the side of the couch.

"Maybe if you weren't blasting Adele you would have heard it," Callie frowned. "Are you ready to go home?"

Arizona shook her head and pointed to all of the charts that were littering the coffee table in front of her and Alex, "Stark had me in the OR all day and now I have to have all of these charts finished by morning."

Callie was confused. When she walked into the room the two pediatric surgeons were laughing and singing. They definitely weren't working on charts. "It didn't sound like you two were getting much work done when I came in," Callie snarked at her girlfriend. "What are you doing in here anyway?" Callie asked as she noticed that Alex was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, clearly he wasn't working.

"I was just finishing dinner with Lucy and on my way out when Robbins asked for some help," Alex clarified for the fiery Latina. He didn't want Arizona to be in more trouble than she already seemed to be in.

Callie narrowed her eyes at Alex before turning back to Arizona, "I guess I'll go to Mark's for dinner then since you won't be home."

"You'd do that anyway," Arizona whispered so softly that Callie couldn't hear her. She then spoke up louder, "Okay. Hopefully I won't be too late. I should be home by eleven."

Callie nodded and headed for the door, "See you later then."

"Night," Arizona chirped from the couch as Callie left the room.

Alex watched as Arizona picked the chart that she had been working on back up and went right back to work like that interruption had never happened.

"Dude, you're a dirty little liar," Alex whispered to the blonde.

She glared at him, "Don't start…"

"I'm not saying anything," Alex said. He didn't know exactly why Arizona was lying to her girlfriend but he knew that her life was very complicated and she must have her reasons for lying.

"I just can't deal with it tonight. I really need a night off."

Alex glanced over at his friend. He couldn't help but notice how tired she looked. She didn't look just tired she looked beaten down by life. "We don't have to go to Joe's tonight. If you want to just go… somewhere and get some rest, be alone. That's fine with me. You look like you could use it."

"Nope," Arizona shook her head. "What I need is a night of fun and trivia night is fun. Okay?"

Alex smiled and nodded his head.

**…**

Joe's was busier than usual that Tuesday night. Normally the bar was only half full but as Alex and Arizona entered they couldn't even get to their normal spots at the bar. Instead, they had to choose a table in the back of the bar. When Alex went to the bar to get their drinks, Joe informed him that there was some conference at the hospital that day and the influx of people were coming from there. While Alex was muttering under his breath about his favorite bar stool being occupied, Joe was appreciative of the extra business. There was a reason why he had trivia night at the bar – to bring in more customers on a notoriously slow business day. The conference attendees were going to boost his sales one hundred percent that night. When Alex finally returned to the small table in the corner where he and Arizona had taken up residence, Arizona reasoned that maybe a change of location would prove to be just the key they needed to win the competition that night.

Arizona was wrong. All of those medical conference attendees at the hospital – they were there for a brain surgery conference. Those brain surgeons kicked Team Hardcore's ass at trivia. Normally Alex and Arizona finish in the top three but that week they came in seventh.

"Fucking brain surgeons," Alex muttered as he took a sip of his beer.

Arizona just shrugged her shoulders at her friend. She had reached the just right level of alcohol in her system where she wasn't drunk but she wasn't sober either. "I think our problem is that it is just you and me playing. We can have up to four people on our team so we're at an automatic disadvantage against everyone else. Maybe we should ask some others to join us?"

"Maybe. I'll think about it," Alex said. Truthfully, Alex enjoyed it just being him and Arizona. He liked not having to deal with the constant drama that his fellow residents brought to his life. He liked having a real friend in Arizona and he wasn't sure he wanted to share that with anyone else.

"What about Lucy?" Arizona suggested Alex's girlfriend.

"Eh. I'm not sure this is her scene. What about Callie?"

"No," Arizona said quickly. When she realized how harsh she sounded she clarified, "I mean she can't drink so it would be pretty mean to force her to come to a bar and play a game while everyone else is getting drunk."

"How are things with Torres?" Alex asked. He could tell from earlier that things were not all sunshine and rainbows with his boss and wanted her to know that she had him as a friend that she could talk to if she wanted.

"Things are… okay," Arizona said trying to use the right words.

"You know you can talk to me about it. I know it seems like everyone is Team Torres in the hospital but I'm not."

"It's just hard, you know? Callie is one hundred percent all about the baby these days. Which is how it should be, but that also means that she is one hundred percent about Sloan these days too," Arizona paused and let out a sigh of defeat. "I just wish she would be that way about me too."

"Have you told her that?"

Arizona let out a sarcastic laugh, "We started to the other night before I got paged."

Alex frowned knowing that he was the one that interrupted that conversation, "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be," Arizona shot him a smile. "That talk was going nowhere good."

Alex reached over and squeezed Arizona's hand on the table, "You going to be okay?"

"I have to be okay. I'm not allowed to be anything else. I'm the one that left her and went to Africa to save babies, remember? Everything will always come back to that."

"But you came back," Alex insisted. He hated seeing Arizona so beaten up by life.

"Doesn't matter. I still left in the first place," Arizona said dryly and stood up from the table. "I'm going to go get us two more drinks and then we're going to talk about your love life, okay?"

Arizona returned a few minutes later with two bottles of beer in her hands. True to her word as soon as she sat down she launched right into Alex's new relationship. "How are things going with Lucy?"

Alex let a small smile grace his lips, "Pretty good, I think. I mean it's only been a couple of months."

"But you like her?"

"Of course I like her. Have you seen her? She's hot!" Alex laughed.

Arizona nodded as she sipped her beer, "She is hot. What about love?"

Alex almost spit out his beer at Arizona's words, "Do I love her?"

Arizona nodded as she lifted her beer to take a drink.

"No. I don't think love and I ever belong in the same sentence."

Arizona knew that Alex guarded his heart closely after what happened with Izzie but she hope that he would eventually open it up again. While he could come across as brash and rude he was a genuinely sweet guy deep down. "Well, maybe Lucy will be the one to break through to you."

"Don't count on it," Alex huffed.

"Just remember what I said about hurting her. The last thing I need is Callie yelling at me because you hurt her OB's feelings. So you have to put up with her for at least the next twenty weeks."

Alex held his hand out to his mentor, "Deal. Plus the sex is really good so it's not much of a sacrifice on my end."

Arizona laughed and shook his hand, "She does look like she'd be pretty crazy in bed."

"Oh she is," Alex smirked.

The two fell back into their normal banter. They would spend a lot of their Tuesday nights plotting how to annoy Stark. Their ultimate goal was to find a way to push him into resigning his post. Their current plan included having one of the interns page him every fifteen minutes on a case that Stark said he wanted to be kept up to date on. Stark didn't specify how often he wanted to be kept up to date or exactly what updates he wanted – so Arizona made sure that he got every update possible.

Neither Alex nor Arizona noticed that Mark Sloan had been sitting at the bar for most of the night. They didn't notice him watch them as they laughed and played trivia and then kept watching them long after trivia was over and their conversations turned more serious. When Mark had eaten dinner with Callie she had told him that Arizona was working late and what he saw at the bar did not look like work. Mark slipped out of the bar unnoticed just as Arizona stood up and looked to be heading his direction.

**…**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: With this chapter, I have officially jumped off of the canon train - which means good things for those wanting Alex and Arizona together. I appreciate all the feedback from the last chapter - for all of the reviews and alerts. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Mark Sloan was loyal to only one person in his life, Callie Torres. He had cheated on almost every woman he had ever been in a relationship with. He even cheated on his best friend Derek by sleeping with his then wife Addison. But he had always been loyal to Callie. He refused to lie to her so when he saw Arizona in the bar with Alex he knew he had to tell his friend even if it would upset her.

Mark knocked softly on the door to apartment 502. It was only ten at night but the pregnancy made Callie perpetually tired so he never knew when she was asleep. He didn't expect her to be awake so he was surprised when she opened the door a few moments later.

"Why are you knocking?" Callie asked confused. Mark never knocked to enter her apartment. They had an open door policy for both of their homes, especially in light of their impending parenthood.

"I just didn't want to wake you up in case you were sleeping," Mark shrugged as he walked into the apartment.

Callie moved to sit on the couch and was dutifully followed by her best friend. "So what's up? I thought you were going to Joe's to try to get one of those brain surgeon chicks."

"I did."

Callie patted his arm, "Sorry you struck out."

"I didn't strike out," Mark took offense at his friend's suggestion that he didn't have any luck with the ladies. "I didn't even attempt to hit on anyone. I was distracted."

"By…?" Callie led him to give her more information.

Mark decided to not beat around the bush any longer. "Arizona was there. With Karev. They were playing trivia together and seemed to be having a good time."

"Really?" Callie asked. She was surprised to hear that Arizona was out at the bar and not working but she knew that Mark wouldn't lie to her.

"Yeah, I know you said she was working late which is why I was so surprised to see her there."

Callie pursed her lips. She was livid at the fact that her girlfriend lied to her. "Thanks for telling me."

Mark could see Callie getting upset and tried to calm her down, "You know, maybe they just finished work earlier than thought and went to have a few drinks to unwind. I don't think it's that big of a deal."

"Don't defend her, Mark. If she got done early then why wouldn't she come home to her pregnant girlfriend?"

"I don't know," Mark shook his head. "You said earlier that you two had been fighting. Maybe she was afraid to come home."

"Mark… don't."

Mark held up his hands in defeat and made his way to the door. "I'll be across the hall if you need me. Try not to get too upset. It's not good for the baby."

Callie didn't respond to him. She just sat on the couch stewing. The longer it took Arizona to come home for the night the angrier she got. She knew things had been tense between her and Arizona after the argument the other night but she couldn't believe that she would lie to her.

**…**

When Arizona walked into her apartment later that night she was surprised to see Callie still awake. It was almost eleven at night. Callie had been asleep before ten almost every night since becoming pregnant.

"Hey. You're still up!" Arizona greeted her girlfriend. She still had just enough alcohol in her system to be perky that late at night. She headed straight for the bedroom to start getting ready for bed. She wanted to brush her teeth and change her clothes before Callie smelled Joe's on her.

Callie quickly followed Arizona into the bedroom. "I was waiting for you. How was work?"

"Oh you know. The usual," Arizona mused as she put toothpaste on her toothbrush.

Callie leaned against the doorframe as she watched Arizona brush her teeth. She had given Arizona a chance to tell her the truth but she still didn't come clean. "So how was Joe's? Mark said you were there with Alex."

Arizona's hand stilled immediately. The toothbrush went limp in her mouth. After a split second, Arizona went back to brushing. She knew that a fight was about to happen. She could tell by the tone in Callie's voice that she was mad and upset. Arizona took her time as she finished brushing her teeth. Finally after a few minutes, she was rinsing and ready to talk. "Joe's was good."

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to Joe's?" Callie demanded.

Arizona walked out of the bathroom and sat on the bed. "Because I figured you wouldn't care."

"Did you actually have to work late or was that all a lie?"

"I did. Stark wanted all of those charts done by morning," Arizona explained. It wasn't a lie.

"What time did you finish?" Callie asked.

"Seven thirty."

"Seven thirty?" Callie yelled. "Seven thirty? That was only a half hour after I left you in the lounge!"

"You made plans with Mark for dinner. I didn't think you would care," Arizona answered honestly.

"I care about my girlfriend lying to me!"

"That seems to be all you care about when it involves me," Arizona muttered under her breath loud enough for Callie to hear her.

"What?" Callie retorted, ready for a fight.

Arizona glared at her lover, "I said that me lying to you seems to be the only thing that you've cared about involving me in a long time."

"That's not true," Callie crossed her arms and defended.

"I've spent every Tuesday night at Joe's for the last three months and this is the first time that you've even noticed that I'm not here."

"So you've been lying to me for three months?" Callie accused. She was getting angrier as Arizona kept talking.

"No!" Arizona yelled. She was tired of being accused of doing something wrong. "You have never once asked me where I was at on Tuesday nights. You've never asked me why I don't come home until eleven and why I smell of beer. This is the first time that you've bothered to care. You not asking doesn't mean that I'm lying. I'd have told you if you would have just asked. "

Callie paused to think. Her mind raced trying to think of every Tuesday for the past three months. All she could come up with for Tuesdays was dinner and watching television with Mark. She couldn't recall spending any Tuesday with Arizona since she came back from Africa. Callie slumped onto the bed on the other side of Arizona. "What do you do every Tuesday at Joe's?" Callie asked as she played with her fingers.

"I play trivia with Alex," Arizona answered with a softened tone. She felt that Callie was starting to calm down and didn't want to ignite her temper again.

"You and Karev?" Callie scoffed. "Since when are you two friends?"

"Since I came back from Africa and he was the only one who would talk to me. Hell, he's still the only one who will talk to me."

"That's not true," Callie interjected.

"It's not?"

"We talk all the time," Callie argued.

"You talk," Arizona said. "You talk all the time. You're always talking about Mark and the baby."

Callie groaned and rolled her eyes. The topic of Mark again. She didn't understand her girlfriend's obsession with the man. "You're jealous of Mark."

"Jealous of Mark?" Arizona parroted. "Why would I be jealous of Mark? Because he's slept with so many women? Because he's broken up at least one marriage that he knows of but probably more? Because he's got the maturity of a fifteen year old boy?"

"Because this is his baby!" Callie yelled as Arizona kept listing ways that she wasn't jealous of Mark.

"I'm not jealous because this is his baby," Arizona placed her hand on Callie's stomach. "I'm upset because I am the third wheel in a relationship with you and Mark."

"You're not the third wheel," Callie claimed.

"Yes, I am. And if you weren't so blinded by Mark you would see it too. Why is Mark always here?"

"He's the baby's father."

"I know that," Arizona rubbed at her neck to try to relieve the tension that was starting to form. "Trust me. He doesn't let anyone forget that he is the father. But that doesn't mean that he needs to be in our apartment every moment of the day that he isn't at the hospital."

"He just wants to be a good father. He missed out on Sloane Sloan's life. He doesn't want to miss out again."

"How is this going to work when the baby is here? You asked me to be a part of your plan. What is your plan?" Arizona demanded to know. She didn't intend for the conversation to take this turn when the fight started but since Callie was finally talking to her she wanted to get it all out.

"I don't know how it is going to work when the baby is here. I imagine that Mark will spend a lot of time here as he'll want to spend all of his free time with the baby."

"Why don't we just buy a big house and all live together?" Arizona asked sarcastically but when Callie looked like she was actually considering the idea Arizona started to laugh.

Callie looked at her curiously, "What's so funny?"

"My life," Arizona answered sadly. "I won the Carter-Madison Grant. I have an amazing girlfriend who I love so much. But in reality I don't have any of that. I gave up the bulk of the grant to come back to you and you choose Mark over me every day of the week."

"That's not true," Callie continued to argue. "I can't deal with you constantly being insecure about Mark, Arizona. I just can't do it. If you can't accept that Mark is going to be around all the time then maybe we need to re-think this."

"It is true," Arizona said as she wiped at the tears that had started falling as she realized what was happening. "I love you. And I love that baby. But I need you to put up some boundaries with Mark. I am your girlfriend. I am the one that you go to bed with every night. Mark will always be the baby's father but I need to let me be your partner and the baby's other mother."

"I can't kick Mark out of my life," Callie said as her own tears were streaming down her face.

"But you can kick me out? Because that is what you're doing every time you pick Mark over me," Arizona asked through her tears.

"Don't make me choose because I can't do that to Mark. He deserves to be a part of every part of this baby's life."

Arizona's head hung low. She couldn't believe that Callie still wasn't able to pick her over Mark. "You've already chosen," Arizona whispered.

Callie still wasn't getting what Arizona was trying to say. Arizona didn't want Mark out of Callie and the baby's lives. She simply wanted less Mark in her life. She wanted to be able to have dinner with her girlfriend without Mark. She wanted to wake up in the morning and not be greeted by Mark Sloan's face as she ate breakfast. Arizona sniffled as she stood up off the bed. Callie watched silently as she went into the closet and grabbed a duffle bag. She shoved random clothes from the closet and her drawers into the bag. She wasn't sure that she had anything in the bag that could even constitute an outfit but she didn't care. Her heart was breaking and she needed to get out of the apartment as quickly as she could.

Arizona slung the bag over her shoulder and kneeled down in front of Callie who was crying on the bed. "I'm going to stay at the hospital. You should keep the apartment," Arizona said as she wiped her own tears. "You'll want to be close to Mark. I'll come get all of my things one day while you're at work."

"Arizona," Callie croaked out. She couldn't believe that she and Arizona were breaking up again. She didn't want it to be over but their relationship didn't seem to be working the way it was. She could tell for weeks that Arizona wasn't happy and she didn't know how to keep her happy without hurting Mark.

"Don't," Arizona silenced Callie with her lips. Arizona pulled back and looked deep into Callie's eyes. "Take care of yourself, okay?"

Callie nodded and pulled Arizona in for another kiss. She knew that this would be their last one and she wanted to make it last. After a few minutes of savoring each other for one last time, Arizona grabbed her bag and made her way out of the apartment.

**…**

Arizona was a walking zombie at work. She wasn't sleeping. She couldn't close her eyes and not see Callie's face or the face of her unborn child. After the break up Arizona did what she knew the one thing she knew how to do better than anyone else she knew – she fixed the tiny humans. She threw herself into her work. She wasn't even supposed to be working but she didn't know what else to do. And for the first day that worked. It kept her mind off of Callie and her broken heart. Then the whispers started. And the stares. She knew that it had gotten out – the hospital knew about the breakup.

Two days after the break up, Arizona was woken up by a 911 page from her boss, Stark. She had only gotten a few hours of restless sleep when her pager went off but at the sight of a 911 page she was immediately awake. Arizona threw on her shoes and grabbed her lab coat before taking off at a run down the hall toward the room number on the page. She skidded to a halt as she saw Stark standing outside the room sipping on his coffee.

"What took you so long?" Stark said as he glanced at his watch.

Arizona was out of breath from her run to the room, "What? You paged me only a minute ago."

"A kid could be dying because you weren't here fast enough," Stark lectured.

Arizona wanted to protest but bit her tongue instead. The surly man in front of her was still her boss even if she despised every hair on his head. Instead of arguing she plastered a sweet smile on her face, "I'm so sorry Dr. Stark. I'll be here faster next time. What do you need from me?"

"All of those charts you did for me the other day were wrong. You need to redo them by lunch."

"Wrong?" Arizona asked incredulously.

"Yes, I e-mailed a memo out last week on how I want to change how we chart. You did it the old way. I need you to do it the new way," Stark smirked. He knew that there was no reason for changing the charting procedures but he wanted his department to know that it was his department and not Arizona's and one way of doing that was to change her procedures. "I've taken the liberty of reassigning your morning surgeries to make sure you have time to do them the correct way."

"I'll fix them immediately," Arizona said nicely. She didn't want to spend any more time in Stark's presence than necessary so she immediately headed for his office to pick up the charts. As soon as she was out of Stark's earshot she began grumbling under her breath about the little man and his Napoleon complex.

"Watch it!" Alex yelled as Arizona turned a corner and almost walked right into him.

Arizona didn't look up she just mumbled an apology as she continued walking along the corridor toward her old office.

Alex immediately switched directions and backtracked to catch up to his friend. "Hey, you okay?" Alex asked as he fell in step next to her.

"Fine," Arizona muttered.

Alex knew about the breakup. He hadn't even worked in two days but had heard about it through the hospital grapevine. He knew Arizona well enough to know that she wouldn't talk if she didn't want to do so and judging her posture and appearance she wasn't ready to talk just yet so he didn't push her. Instead, he fell back out of step and let Arizona go.

**…**

Arizona didn't finish the charts by lunchtime. She knew that Stark wouldn't notice that they weren't done. She knew that he was just giving her busy work to show her that he was still in charge; that he was still her boss.

As Arizona reached for the last chart she took a minute to stretch her back and glance at her phone. She cursed herself for not changing the background on her phone yet. She didn't need to see a picture of Callie each time she wanted to check the time. She had just set the background to a picture of her dog that now lived with her parents, when the door to her secret hideaway, the pediatrics lounge, flung open and Mark stood in the doorway staring at her.

At the sound of the door opening Arizona's eyes popped up to meet his. She didn't know what he wanted from her. She had nothing left of his that he would want. She had already given him his best friend back. Callie was no longer hers. He stared at her from the doorway for a solid minute before he closed the door behind him and started to move closer to the couch that Arizona was sitting on. He was still silent as he sat on the coffee table in front of her.

Arizona couldn't take the silence any longer, "What –"

Mark cut her off by putting his index finger in front of her. "What the hell are you thinking breaking up with a pregnant woman, Robbins?"

"I didn't break up with her," Arizona said quietly as she picked invisible lint off of her scrub pants. "She ended things. I'm just the one who moved out."

"I can't believe you would hurt her like this again," Mark yelled as he stood up and started pacing the room. "Why the hell did you come back from Africa if you weren't going to stick around for good? You're bailing again!"

Arizona was pissed at being the punching bag for the day. She had enough from Stark and now Mark was pushing her around. "I didn't expect to come back from Africa and find my girlfriend pregnant," Arizona defended.

"You knew she was pregnant before you got back together!"

"But I didn't know that I was going to have to play house with _you_ for the rest of my life because of that," Arizona continued to defend herself.

"So you wanted to kick me out of _my_ kid's life?" Mark said. He was livid at the blonde. He had spent the last two days consoling a very upset Callie. She had barely stopped crying in two days. He threatened her with admitting her to the hospital if she didn't stop crying and start taking care of herself.

"No, I didn't want to kick you out of the baby's life, Mark. I just thought that when Callie wanted me to be a part of her plan that included a life for us – me, her and the baby. And you would have your life with the baby. Then we would all come together for the big things. I didn't think that I was essentially going to be dating you too!"

"Stay away from her," Mark demanded as he went to leave the room.

"I haven't seen her since I left the apartment. I'm going by there tonight to get my things because I know she's on call. But at some point I am going to see her. We work in the same hospital after all."

Mark nodded, "Go back to Africa and stay the hell away from Callie and from my baby."

Arizona rolled her eyes as the door closed. Part of her wished that she could just go back to Africa but she had already disrupted clinic operations enough by reneging on her commitment once to them. She was going to keep her current contract – which stipulated that she would spend seven days at the clinic every sixty days to perform surgeries and routine procedures as necessary.

She had barely picked her chart back up to finish when her pager blared again. It was Stark again. She knew he wanted to know why his charts weren't complete yet. She ignored the page but quickly finished the last chart so that she could deliver them to him.

**…**

Too little sleep and too many people angry with her left Arizona feeling defeated at the end of her work day. She was kicked by life and she still had the biggest task of all left to do for the day – she needed to go pack her things from her apartment. She decided not to try and fight with Callie over whose blender it was or who bought the scented candle in the bathroom. All Arizona was out to get were her clothes and all of her personal things. Everything else, all the big things like the furniture, Callie could keep and do with what she pleased. Those things all had too many memories for the blonde. She didn't need even more things reminding her of Callie than she already had; having to work with her would be enough of a daily reminder, especially once the baby was born.

While Teddy was still remaining neutral in the breakup she did agree to store Arizona's things for her at her apartment. Arizona refused to live in a hotel again so until she found a new place to live she was just going to live at the hospital, but since she no longer had her own office she had no place to store her boxes of personal things they needed somewhere to go in the interim.

Arizona lugged two empty boxes and a duffle bag up the stairs to her old home. She didn't think she'd need more than that for everything. Arizona fished out her apartment key from her purse. She quickly realized that this was the last time she would ever use the key. Arizona couldn't help but let herself be engulfed in memories as she entered the dark and quiet apartment. She let her hand linger on the back of the couch as she remembered the first time she ever told Callie that she loved her. She shook her head to rid the memory from her mind. She couldn't let herself get caught in the memories again. She needed to get her things and get out before her heart hurt her anymore than it already did.

Arizona was carrying the last box full out to the living room when she heard the door open. She cursed under her breath; Callie was supposed to be on call.

"Hey," Arizona said shyly as she fidgeted with the box in her arms. "You're supposed to be on call."

"Chief told me I could be on call from the apartment since it's so close to the hospital," Callie replied. Callie was just as surprised as Arizona to see her ex in the apartment. She knew that Arizona said that she would come get her things some time but she didn't expect it to be so soon. Part of Callie was still thinking that this wasn't a real break up. That this was just a temporary thing. Seeing Arizona with a box in her arms and a duffle bag by the door meant that this was real.

"Oh," Arizona moved to put the box down by the door. "That's nice of him."

"I think he just feels bad for the pregnant woman that just got her heart broken yet again by the same woman as before," Callie said sarcastically as she watched Arizona get her things together.

"Callie… that's not fair."

"What's not fair is you coming back here, making me love you and then leaving me again!"

Arizona stopped moving when she heard Callie mention the word love. "You love me? Since when? You haven't told me you loved me since before I left for Africa!"

Callie angrily wiped at the tears that were streaming down her face. She never realized that she hadn't said those three words out loud since Arizona had been back. She thought them all the time. She thought them from the moment she opened the apartment door the first day Arizona had come back. "I shouldn't have to tell you that I love you for you to know it."

Arizona wasn't going to let the sight of Callie's tears make her go easy on her ex. She was hurting just as much as Callie even though people seemed to think that she was the cold hearted bitch that didn't feel anything. "Well, I needed to hear it. How am I supposed to know you love me when you wouldn't let me touch you? You would spend your nights at Mark's instead of here with me. That doesn't sound like you loved me very much. At least not as much as you love Mark."

"Let Mark go, Arizona. Jesus."

"I'll let Mark go when you do," Arizona sighed when she realized they were going in circles. Callie was never going to realize that she and Mark were joined at the hip and that was toxic for her romantic relationship and Arizona was never going to accept being the third wheel in her own relationship. "Callie. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that we couldn't work out. I'm sorry that I will never be anything more than just another one of Mommy and Daddy's co-workers to your baby because I _love_ that baby. But you and me, we aren't good for each other anymore. I hope that one day we might be able to be friends."

"Friends?" Callie scoffed. Friendship was the last thing she wanted from Arizona. They weren't friends before they started dating and they sure wouldn't be now that they were broken up. "Friends? Just stay the hell away from me and my baby."

Arizona looked dejected at Callie's coldness to her. She flung her bag over her shoulder and picked up her boxes before opening the door to leave for the last time. Arizona slipped the key out of her pocket and put it on the kitchen counter. Tears were silently streaming down her face as she closed the door for good. She couldn't see that Callie had her own tears falling down her face. As soon as the door closed both women broke out into hysterical sobs as they realized that their relationship was really over.

**…**

With nowhere else to go Arizona was back at the hospital after getting her things from her apartment. She wasn't in the mood to work. She couldn't deal with being happy and perky for her patients and parents. She wasn't on duty or on call but she knew that if the nurses saw her they would put her to work as she was the best. She used her best ninja skills to make it to the on call room that she had taken over as her own without being seen.

Unfortunately for her, her on call room was occupied. Even worse for her, the occupants didn't lock the door giving her a front row seat to the activities that were going on in the room. Arizona gasped and backpedaled out of the room as quickly as she could without stumbling over her own feet, all the while muttering her apologies to the couple on the bed.

Alex laughed as Lucy darted under the sheet when the door opened. He flashed Arizona his patented smirk as she fumbled out of the room. He was sure that Arizona was a freak in the bedroom but she didn't like to talk about sexual activities very much. Even saying the word made her blush so Alex knew that she was more embarrassed than he was at her interrupting his time alone with his girlfriend.

"Robbins won't say anything," Alex whispered to his girlfriend that was still hiding under the sheets. "She's gone. You can come out now," he prodded Lucy to come out of hiding.

Lucy peeked her head out from the sheet and looked around the room ensuring that they were indeed alone again.

"Now where were we?" Alex husked into Lucy's ear as he leaned down to kiss her again. He intended to pick up right where they left off.

Lucy sat up, taking the sheet with her to keep herself covered. "We're not anywhere. I'm not in the mood anymore. Hearing _her_ voice just killed it for me. Sorry."

"What does Arizona have to do with this?" Alex asked as he watched Lucy put her scrubs back on.

"She broke a pregnant woman's heart. She of all people should know better than that. Pregnant women don't need the added stress. Callie's already too stressed out about this pregnancy as it is," Lucy explained.

"Wait a minute," Alex sat up and started to defend his boss. "You have no clue about their relationship. Trust me when I say that this is not all Arizona's fault." Alex was tired of Arizona always getting the blame. Arizona hadn't talked to him about the break up yet but he knew enough about what had been going on in her relationship to know that it was not solely Arizona's fault.

"Alex, you're just blind because Arizona is your mentor."

"No," Alex huffed as he grabbed his pants. Now that Lucy had fully dressed herself he realized that sex was officially off the table for the night. "I mean yes she is my mentor but that is not why I'm taking her side. Unless someone was cheating and I know there was no cheating here, it takes more than one person to end a relationship. Callie's not the saint that everyone makes her out to be. She's been hurting Arizona ever since she came back."

"She might not be but Arizona is a heartless bitch for breaking up with her when she's having a baby."

Alex couldn't believe that he wasn't getting laid because of another couple's break up. Lucy barely even knew Callie and Arizona, she had no reason to be so invested in their relationship but Alex didn't want to get into a huge fight over it. After they were fully dressed Alex put his hand on Lucy's back and led them out of the room, "I'm just saying, Arizona is having a rough time and is getting it from everyone right now. She doesn't need someone else beating up on her. So just leave her alone. For me."

"For you," Lucy acquiesced as she leaned in for a kiss before heading back to work.

Alex watched his girlfriend walk away. He was intent on going to find Arizona and make sure that she was okay. She didn't look so great when she had walked into the on call room earlier. His blaring pager had other ideas for him and instead of finding his friend he had to go take care of a patient.

**…**

Alex knew that she was in there. He knew that Arizona had all but moved into the on call room at the end of the pediatrics wing. The same on call room that she had walked in on him almost having sex with his girlfriend in. He overheard one of the interns bitching about being kicked out of the on call room by a "hot, blonde attending." She was there and she wasn't opening the door. It was nine o'clock on a Sunday night. Arizona wasn't on call and he had just come from Joe's and she wasn't there so he knew that she had to be in there.

Alex pounded on the door harder, "Robbins if you don't open up I will knock the door down."

Alex put his ear to the door and listened for any movement on the other side. He didn't hear anything or anyone moving inside. Alex looked around and was grateful that Arizona chose the on call room that was in the deserted part of the wing so there weren't too many prying eyes and ears around watching him knocking on the door.

"Robbins. I am counting to three and then I am going to break down the door and potentially injure my hands which would result in you having to work with Kepner all the time. Okay? So just open the damn door," Alex paused giving the blonde time to open the door. When she still didn't open he started counting, "One…two…th –."

Arizona flung the door open before Alex could get to three. She latched on to Alex's t-shirt and pulled him into the room, shutting the door before anyone could see her. She knew she looked pathetic in her penguin pajama pants, thermal top and glasses; she didn't need any more rumors going around the hospital about her than there already were.

"You wear glasses?" Alex asked as he entered the room. It wasn't what he intended to start the conversation off with but he was caught so off guard at Arizona even letting him into the room that he just said the first thing that came to mind.

Arizona crossed her arms at the young man that had demanded entry into her private space. "Yes. Contacts normally but since it is late at night, the glasses have come out. And I know you didn't bang down my door to make fun of my vision."

"No judgment. I bet my eyesight is even worse than yours. I just have the contacts that you wear for a week then throw away so people don't have to see me in my ridiculous glasses," Arizona watched as Alex kicked off his shoes, took off his hoodie and made himself comfortable on her on call room bed. He picked up the book lying on her bed and thumbed through it. "The Hunger Games? Really Robbins? Aren't you a little old for this?"

Arizona snatched the book from his hands and continued to glare at him. "It's research for the kids."

"Sure," Alex smiled. "You know you're into it. I bet you have a thing for Katniss."

"Alex," Arizona groaned. "Gross. She's like fourteen."

"But the actress in the movies is over eighteen so it's not that bad to fantasize about her. She's hot. But, a little tip, Robbins – the third one is a huge let down so don't get your hopes up for it," Alex explained about the trilogy of books. "I mean, I know you have to read it to see how it all ends in Panem but it really sucks compared to the first two."

Arizona quirked her eyebrow at the man stretched out on her bed. "And you know this because…"

"Gotta stay hip for the kids," Alex winked.

Arizona moved back to the bed where she shoved Alex's feet off of the bed. "What are you doing here?" she said quietly as she relaxed next to Alex, sitting up in the bed against the wall.

"You can't live in the hospital," Alex said as he caught Arizona's blue eyes next to him.

Arizona turned her head to look away from him, "You live in a trailer in the parking lot. I don't see how this is any different."

"I live in a trailer in the parking lot so that I can stay competitive for Chief Resident. You are living in an on call room because you choose to do so. You're an attending – you shouldn't be in the hospital more than fifty hours a week. You've earned that. I'm still putting in my time."

Arizona kept her eyes trained on the ceiling above her, "I don't know how to live in Seattle and not live with Callie."

"It's going to suck," Alex admitted honestly. "But you have to do it. You can't live here. Stark will have your ass if he finds out. Plus, you're really starting to scare the interns and you're the only attending that they still like."

"I don't know if I can, Karev," Arizona slumped her head onto Alex's shoulder.

Alex had never seen Arizona so weak and vulnerable. Even after all of their time spent hanging out at Joe's together she never fully opened herself up to him. She always kept her defensive walls up. He hated seeing her so sad. It wasn't the woman that he knew she was. It was time for Alex to give her some tough love.

Alex pushed Arizona off of his shoulder and grabbed her by her shoulders. "Stop feeling so damn sorry for yourself," Alex reprimanded her. "This isn't who you are. You're not that girl who mopes around after someone. You hold your head up high and move on."

"Wow," Arizona muttered as she pulled away from Alex. "And here I thought you were the one person who might actually care."

"I do care," Alex conceded. "Which is why I can't stand to see you acting so pathetic. Grow some balls and move on."

"Get the hell out, Karev," Arizona ordered. She was happy that Alex didn't try to fight to stay as he got up off the couch and left her in peace.

Arizona took up residence back on the bed that Karev had just left. She was furious with him. She wondered who he thought he was telling her what she needed to do as the last time she checked his life wasn't all sunshine and roses either. She did concede that he did have a point. It was only a matter of time before Stark or the Chief found out that she was living at the hospital. Arizona sighed as she pulled out her laptop and started searching for houses and apartments in the Seattle metro area.

**…**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona wasn't used to Alex being so harsh with her. She was his boss so he was usually very polite to her. She knew he could be an asshole. She'd spent enough time with him at Joe's to see him being a prick to those around him. She had just yet to experience it herself. She decided that Alex was finally seeing her as a friend more than a boss if she was finally getting the same treatment he gave to everyone else.

Spurred on by Alex's words, Arizona spent all day Monday looking at new places to live. She must have visited at least ten different apartment complexes and condo units and none of them made her feel like she was at home. She wasn't going to settle for anything less than a home that met all of her qualifications. By four in the afternoon she had given up and returned to the hospital. At least she was on call so Alex couldn't accost her for sleeping in the hospital that night.

After a quiet eighteen hours of being on call, Arizona was relieved from her duties and was intent on picking back up her housing search. She woke up Tuesday morning with a sore neck and back and realized that she needed to sleep in a real bed again if she didn't want to be giving all of her money to a chiropractor. Arizona had one last appointment with a condo manager. As she hopped into her car and started driving herself the five miles it would take to get to the building she hoped that this place was special because it was the last one on her list and she still hadn't found her new home.

The condo building was in an older area of the city. The tall brick building stood out like a sore thumb around all of the regular single family housing in the area. Arizona pulled her car into the parking garage and started to make her way to the seventh floor where the manager would be waiting for her. Arizona tugged on the door from the garage to enter the building and it wouldn't budge. She remembered the condo manager telling her that she wouldn't need a key or card to get into the building during the day so there was no reason for the door to not open for her. She tried pulling harder and it still wouldn't open. Arizona sighed as she looked around for other options. She followed the exit signs and walked out of the garage the way she drove in and headed for the main entrance of the building. She pushed the button for the elevator and all she could hear were rickety creeks coming from the elevator. Arizona should have seen the signs before she even saw the apartment. She should have taken the broken door and untrustworthy sounding elevator as signs that this was not the condo for her. However, the sleazy building manager with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth that hit on her the second she stepped into the condo was a huge, blinking neon sign for her to get out of the building and never look back.

Arizona was dejected. She looked at every apartment building in the area she wanted to live in and she didn't like any of them. She didn't want to settle for anything less than perfect. She didn't want to rent anymore, she wanted to own so she wasn't going to put down a huge chunk of money on anything that was less than what she was looking for. She found herself driving aimlessly around Seattle after she left the last condo building. It was still early in the afternoon and the only plan she had for her evening off was to meet Alex for trivia. Her car naturally drove itself to her favorite part of Seattle – Queen Anne. It was an area of Seattle up on a hill that provided spectacular views of the city. She and Callie used to go to Kerry Park in Queen Anne when they wanted to get away from the hospital for lunch. It was also perfect for when she wanted to get in a quality run. The hills of Queen Anne provided a great workout and running while overlooking the city skyline always helped give her an extra push. Queen Anne became Arizona's thinking spot. She could sit on that bench or run along the Seattle skyline for hours as she worked out her problems.

Arizona found herself driving up and down the windy streets in Queen Anne. She noticed that many of the houses were for sale. Houses in Queen Anne were not cheap so she surmised that many of the houses must have been victims of the housing market crash. Arizona realized as she drove around that she officially had no clue how to get back to the main road that would lead her back to Joe's and her hospital. She knew she was close to Meredith Grey's house and if she could just find her house she would know how to get back as she had been there on many occasions. Directions were not her specialty. Even growing up surrounded by Marines, Arizona was still able to get lost in a grocery store. She was mentally kicking herself for not having GPS in her car. After passing the same house for the third time, she made the executive decision to drive toward the setting sun. If she went west she would eventually run into the Puget Sound which would lead her to a main road and help her find her way out. It was as she was trying to make her way out of Queen Anne that she saw _it_. It was tucked away at the end of a dead end street. It was a beautiful two story traditional home. It looked like it hadn't seen any love in at least a year. The paint on the house was chipped. The lawn was over grown and bushes were growing wildly in the front yard but Arizona could see the charm of the house. She quickly reached for her cell phone to call the number on the sign in the yard. When she grabbed her cell phone she immediately hit herself with it in the head as she realized that she could have easily used the GPS on her phone to direct her way out of the neighborhood, but if she had done that she wouldn't have found the house that she hoped could be her future home.

She dialed the number on the sign and was greeted by an overeager real estate agent on the other end. Arizona didn't know if it was a good sign or not that the agent wasn't busy and could show her the house immediately. After a day full of bad signs, Arizona decided to take it as a good one and waited patiently outside the house for the agent to arrive with the keys.

…

Arizona was happier than she had been in weeks when she walked into Joe's bar. She had finally had a good day – the first she could remember in along time. She scanned the bar and quickly found Alex sitting at the bar talking to a woman. Arizona could tell by the blonde hair that Alex had brought Lucy to their trivia night.

"Hey!" Arizona smiled as she sat on the stool next to Alex.

Alex whipped his head around to make eye contact with the perky sounding woman who had just arrived, "Hey."

"Hi Lucy," Arizona greeted her friend's girlfriend who was giving her an evil look from the other side of Alex. "I didn't expect to see you here."

Lucy mumbled a hello and then went back to her drink.

Alex called Joe over and got Arizona a beer. "I wasn't expecting you to show up tonight," Alex said as he pushed the beer toward Arizona. "So I asked Lucy to come. It can't hurt to have three people on a team though, right?"

Arizona smiled even though she really didn't want to have to play nice with Callie's OB who was giving her nasty looks, "Of course not. Maybe Lucy will be just what we need to win."

"I can't believe you two haven't won yet," Lucy snarked with her straw still in her mouth. "Two surgeons getting beat every week by college kids?"

"It's not as easy as it looks," Arizona shot back at Lucy's attitude.

Alex was grateful that it was time to start playing. He didn't think he could handle playing peacemaker between two of his favorite blondes. He wouldn't have brought Lucy if he thought that Arizona was going to show up. After she told him to get out of her on call room, Alex hadn't heard one word from her. He hadn't even seen her in the hospital as they were working opposite shifts. He only hoped that Lucy remembered what he asked of her a few days ago and would be nice to Arizona otherwise it would be a long night.

Arizona had effectively shut Lucy up as the trivia competition progressed. Arizona carried her team that night scoring the most points out of the three of them. Lucy didn't have much to offer by way of answers. Arizona wondered if Lucy was even trying or if she was just there because Alex asked her to be.

"You celebrate losing?" Lucy asked as Alex handed her a celebratory drink.

Alex took a sip of his beer, "We do."

"If we didn't, we'd never get to celebrate anything," Arizona laughed into her beer.

Lucy looked put off as she contemplated the thought of celebrating losing; the concept was foreign to her. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom for a minute," she said as she hopped off her bar stool and placed a chaste kiss on Alex's lips.

As soon as Lucy was out of earshot Alex apologized to his friend. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have brought her if I knew you were going to show up."

"Just because we had a fight doesn't mean I won't show up for trivia. It's our thing, Alex," Arizona explained. "I had something that I wanted to talk to you about, anyway."

Alex was intrigued. Arizona had been acting oddly all night. She was not a full week out of her breakup with Callie but here Arizona was perky and happy. This was not the same woman who told him off in her on call room the other day. "Oh?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, so thanks to a kick in the ass from this really annoying asshole resident I found a place to live today."

"Oh really?" Alex smirked.

"You don't have to look so smug at being right, Karev. Did you hear me when I said annoying asshole?" Arizona admonished.

"Sorry. So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I found this house," Arizona pulled out her cell phone to show Alex pictures. "It needs work."

"That's a million dollar house! But damn it looks rough," Alex conceded as he could see how much it had been ignored by its previous owners. "I know you make good money. But that good of money?"

"It's not that expensive thanks to it being a bank foreclosure and mortgage rates are insanely low right now so I can afford it."

"I'm glad. You deserve an awesome place," Alex smiled, knowing Arizona would pick up on his use of her favorite word. "It looks like it will be great once you put some money into it."

"That's where you come in," Arizona said. "I'm actually pretty handy with tools thanks to my dad and brother so I think I can do a lot of work myself if I had a little help. And you look like you could be handy."

"I am," Alex interrupted. He felt the need to ensure her that he was good with tools quickly. Questioning if he was good with tools was questioning his masculinity.

"And you live in a trailer," Arizona tilted her head as she spoke to him. "You told me that I couldn't live in the hospital so I'm telling you the same thing. You can't live in a trailer in the hospital parking lot but you can come and live in my house… for free if you can help me fix it up.

"Uh… what did you just say to my boyfriend?" Lucy interrupted. She had finished in the bathroom and walked up just in time to hear Arizona ask Alex to move in with her.

Alex could see that Lucy was pissed and grabbed her hand in an attempt to help calm her down. "Robbins is going to buy a house that needs some work and offered me a free place to stay in exchange for some manual labor."

"You said no, right?" Lucy said as she glared at Arizona who was standing behind Alex's shoulder.

"We hadn't gotten that far," Alex said.

Arizona stood up from her seat and grabbed her purse. She could tell a fight was about to break out and she didn't want to be around to be dragged into it. "I didn't mean to start anything. Alex, just think about it. My agent says we can do a rushed closing so I should be able to move in as soon as the bank processes my mortgage application. I'll see you later."

Alex didn't answer. He just smiled and nodded as Arizona left the bar. He let out a slow breath as he turned back around to see Lucy staring at him with her arms crossed. He didn't know why Lucy was so upset about him potentially living with Arizona but he intended to find out why. Arizona was his boss and she was gay. Lucy had no reason to be jealous of Arizona. If anything, his initial thought was that Lucy would be happy about it as she was always complaining about his trailer.

**…**

Alex took his time as he walked through the house. He opened every door including all of the many kitchen cabinet doors. He fiddled with every light switch as he made his way through. He went up and down the stairs several times as he tested them to see where the creaky noise was coming from.

When Alex finally made his way back to the kitchen he found Arizona perched on the counter waiting for his return. "So what do you think?" she asked with wide eyes and a huge smile.

Alex leaned against the kitchen island opposite of Arizona, "It definitely needs some work. The floor in the second bedroom upstairs looks like it has some dry rot. The stairs need to be completely rebuilt and don't get me started on the plumbing."

"I know all of that but what do you really think?"

Alex smiled, "It's a great house."

"Awesome!" Arizona chirped as she hopped off of the counter. "I'm just waiting on the final home inspection so I can make my final offer."

"You going to move in right away or wait until it is all fixed up?"

Arizona guided the pair out into the backyard to take in the views of the city. It was a clear day so they could even see Mount Rainier in the background. "Yeah. I can live in a construction zone."

Alex walked over to the edge of the back deck and felt his foot slip down. The deck was going to need replacing too. "You're really going to do all of the work yourself?"

"Yep," Arizona nodded. "I know it's going to take awhile but I have nothing but time these days. This will give me something to do besides work." Arizona paused to nudge Alex with her hip, "And if I have a super awesome roommate who wants to help out, then it'll get done even faster."

Alex didn't have to look at Arizona to know that she was giving him her best puppy eyes. The same eyes she gave him when she wanted his help working on charts at work or when she needed him to take a case to help her avoid Stark. He had a hard time saying no to those eyes. It wasn't just the eyes. It was the adorable pout and lower lip that she could make tremble without even thinking about it.

Alex avoided looking at Arizona and walked back into the house. "Lucy doesn't think it's a good idea."

"Not surprising. She hates me," Arizona shrugged.

Alex laughed. He didn't understand why Lucy hated Arizona. How could anyone hate Arizona? She was nice to everyone. He didn't think she had a mean bone in her body. The only person he had ever seen her be mean to was Stark and she wouldn't even be mean to him to his face. "Yeah, she broke up with me when I told her I was going to move in."

Arizona couldn't help but bounce on her toes when she heard Alex's admission. She couldn't be happier that Alex was going to be her roommate and that he was no longer with Lucy. She was never a fan of Lucy and could see that she wasn't good for Alex. "Yay!" Arizona exclaimed and pulled her new roommate in for a hug.

Alex awkwardly patted Arizona on the back and agreed, "Yay!"

"Wait, are you okay? With the breakup?"

Alex nodded affirmatively as Arizona grabbed Alex's hand and dragged him upstairs. "So which room are you going to take?"

"Uh, the biggest one?"

"Ha, no way. That's mine. You can have the second biggest. Deal?" Arizona stuck out her pinky for the man.

Alex laughed at himself as he made a pinky promise with a grown woman. "Deal. When do we get to move in?"

"My realtor says we should be able to close in two weeks. So right before I have to go back to Malawi."

Alex had been walking toward what he thought to be the largest of the spare rooms when he stopped in his tracks when Arizona mentioned Malawi. "You're going back?" Alex asked confused.

"Yeah," Arizona nodded as she continued toward the stopped man toward largest of the spare rooms causing Alex to follow her. "When I came back part of the agreement was that I have to go back every two months. They line up all of the non-emergent surgeries for me and I will basically spend seven days straight in the OR. I'm a little overdue for this visit so I'm going to stay a few extra days treating patients in the villages as well."

"Sounds like fun," Alex said. It really did sound like fun for him. With Stark in charge and him favoring April, Alex was lucky if he got one surgery a day. To spend seven full days in an operating room was his idea of heaven.

"It will be," Arizona smiled as she watched Alex inspect his soon to be room. "I asked Chief Webber if I could bring a resident with me. He thought it'd be a great idea – mainly because of the papers that will come out of it since you guys are going to be starting your fifth year soon. He said that it would be great for fellowship applications." Arizona moved to stand next to Alex who was staring out the window into the front yard, "So do you think Kepner will want to go?"

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you say that, Robbins."

"But Kepner is the leading candidate to be Chief Resident and just think of all the great alone time you and Stark could have while we're gone."

Alex glared at Arizona and tried to see if he could read any hint of her joking with him on her face. Arizona had a good stone face though and didn't give away anything. "I will kick your ass if you take April and not me."

"You wouldn't hurt a girl."

"I wouldn't," Alex smirked. "But I might change my mind on moving in here to help you with this shanty place you call a house."

"It's a good thing that Stark said I couldn't take Kepner and was stuck with you anyway," Arizona said as she walked out of the room and headed back downstairs.

Alex caught up to Arizona as she was grabbing her purse to leave the house. "You really asked for April over me?" Alex asked. He really didn't believe that Arizona would pick Kepner over him, not with their new found friendship and all.

"And break up Team Hardcore?" Arizona paused as she waited for Alex to follow her out of the house. "Never."

**…**

"Do we really have to go?" Cristina muttered as she dropped her tray onto the cafeteria table.

Alex took the seat next to her, "Go to what?"

"Baby shower for Torres and Sloan," April clarified. "I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

"Playing smell the diaper games are not my idea of fun," Cristina said dryly as she played with her food.

"Didn't Callie ask you to be the Godmother? That means you have to go," Meredith told her best friend.

"I don't think Callie would want me there so I'm not going," Alex told the lunch table. When Arizona and Callie split up the hospital staff had to take sides and Alex had always been Arizona's number one supporter. "Plus, I haven't packed for Africa yet and we're leaving as soon as Arizona's shift is over."

"So it's Arizona now that you're roommates?" Meredith teased her friend. "You know if you wanted to get out of the trailer you could have always moved back in with me."

"And live in your frat house? No thanks. Plus, Arizona really needed the help around the house. This house needs a lot of work and there is no way she could do it all herself no matter how much she says otherwise."

Cristina picked at her salad, "I know she's your type and all with the blonde hair and boobs but she's not going to sleep with you."

"Can't I just be friends with a girl and not want to get into her pants? I haven't slept with any of you at this table."

Cristina's pager went off before she could make a comment. "It's time for the party. If I have to go, so do the rest of you."

Alex found himself being dragged into the break room that had been decorated like an Easter egg. It was full of pastel balloons and streamers. Alex really didn't want to be there. He and Sloan had never gotten along and Callie had broken his new roommate's heart. But he was trapped. He had Meredith on one side of him and Cristina on the other and neither of them was going to let him leave the party until they did. Alex soon found himself at the onesie decorating station. After several years of working on primarily pediatric cases, Alex could do crafts with the best of them. He had skill at cutting out hearts and snowflakes from construction paper, gluing pasta to paper and above all he was an expert at coloring in the lines – but the one skill he didn't have was painting or drawing; he could fill in between the lines but presented with a blank canvas he had no idea what to do. Alex stared at the tiny white onesie and drew a blank at what to do with it. He looked at Cristina's and saw a perfect miniature heart diagram. There was no way he'd be able to compete with that onesie so instead he took a cue from his own wardrobe and grabbed the bottle of blue puffy paint to turn his onesie into a pair of Seattle Grace – Mercy West scrubs. While his onesie wasn't the best looking or the most creative it was definitely better than the abstract mess that was on Meredith's.

Alex looked at his pager gratefully when it summoned him out of the baby shower. Part of him felt like he was cheating on Arizona by being there. After a quick consult, he looked to his watch and realized that he needed to find Arizona if they were going to make it home, pack and get to the airport on time.

"Ready to go?" he said as he walked up behind Arizona who was working on a chart at the pediatric nurses' desk.

Arizona jumped at his voice, "Don't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry, Dr. Robbins."

Arizona shut the chart she was working on and pushed it toward the nurse. "I just need to go get my things." Arizona noticed that Alex already had his backpack and was ready to go. "How was the party?"

"Party?" Alex asked. He had hoped that Arizona didn't know that he had attended.

"The baby shower," Arizona said as she beckoned Alex to follow her to the attendings' lounge. "I know you were there. I walked by and saw you."

"Cristina made me go. I didn't want to go."

"It's okay," Arizona placed her hand on Alex's arm. "You're allowed to be friendly with her. Did she look happy?"

"She looked like she was having fun. She made out with some killer loot. Someone gave her a stroller that, according to Meredith, was at least a thousand dollars. That thing better push the baby itself for that much money."

"Really?" Arizona tried to act surprise. "Who gave her that?"

"No card on it," Alex stopped and noticed that Arizona had stopped making eye contact with him. It was his turn to reach out and stop her from walking and pushed her against the wall closest to them, "You did it, didn't you?"

Arizona leaned against the wall and refused to make eye contact with him, "Callie was drooling over it from the moment she found out she was pregnant but didn't want to spend that much money on a stroller. I bought it before we broke up. It's not like I've got a use for it."

Alex squeezed her arm, "You're too nice, Robbins. Hopefully living with me will rub off on you because you shouldn't be so nice to the woman who broke your heart."

"I'm not all nice, Karev. I totally made Mark's favorite brownies and laced them with a laxative and had them delivered to his office as a present this morning. I put on the card that they were a special treat for Dad since Mom gets all of the attention at the baby shower. Callie hates brownies so I knew Mark would eat all of them." Arizona laughed as she paused outside of the door to the lounge. "Don't let my naturally sunny disposition fool you."

"That's evil, Robbins. I like it. Remind me to never eat any of your baked goods."

Arizona smiled and opened the door to the lounge. "Give me five minutes," she called out over her shoulder as the door shut leaving Alex waiting in the hallway.

Arizona was distracted thinking about the pain Mark was going to be in as she entered the lounge that she didn't realize that she almost walked right into Callie.

"Arizona," Callie called to get the blonde's attention so that she didn't walk right into her. Any physical contact, even just a graze, from Arizona and Callie knew she would lose all forward progress she had made at getting over her ex.

Arizona's eyes snapped up at hearing her name in a very familiar voice. She saw that she was about four inches from Callie and she needed to halt before she ran smack dab into her. "Sorry," Arizona said as she sidestepped the beautiful pregnant woman in front of her and made her way to her locker.

Arizona wasn't going to bother changing out of her scrubs for the drive home. She was fully packed and ready to go and she knew that Alex hadn't even started. She'd have time to shower and change while she waited on him. She was busy pulling her fleece jacket on over her head when she heard that familiar voice ring in her ears again.

"You weren't at the party," Callie said.

Arizona pulled the top down and gave Callie a curious look. "Did you really expect me to go? The last time you spoke to me about something not related to a patient you were telling me to stay away from you and your baby."

"I still figured you would go. You're always the first one there at all of the work bridal showers and baby showers," Callie said with a bit harsher tone than she intended.

Arizona picked up her bag and flung it over her shoulder. "You can't be mad at me for giving you what you wanted. You wanted me to stay away so I am. In fact, for the next ten days I'll be on another continent. Is that far enough away for you?"

"Arizona," Callie sighed and gave her a pitiful look. She really didn't mean to anger her ex. "I miss you," Callie said so quietly she wasn't sure Arizona had even heard her.

Arizona couldn't give into the hormonal mess in front of her. She knew that Callie was still grieving their relationship, like she was, but that giving in and even giving Callie a hug would not be a good idea. She had to ignore the quiet admission from her ex. "I've got to go. I have to get home. Karev hasn't even packed yet and our flight is in three hours."

"Yeah. Okay," Callie sniffled trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. She really hated the hormonal swings that came with being pregnant. "Thank you. For the stroller. I know it was you."

Arizona gave Callie a small smile as she walked past her and out of the room. She couldn't wait to be in Africa and be so busy that she wouldn't have any free time to think about Callie and her heartbreaking looks of sadness.

She found Alex waiting for her just where she left him. He spent the entire drive home drilling her with question after question about Malawi and the kids they would be seeing there. Arizona smiled at how excited he was to get there. All she heard from Callie before the trip was questions about bugs and catching malaria. She knew that this trip to Malawi was going to be very different than the first.

**…**


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Warning: This chapter contains a character death. Please don't hate me. Will save the rest of the A/N for the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Alex wasn't sure what to expect when their plane touched down in Africa. Everything he knew about Africa was from television and movies. He was so excited to be going to Malawi and to be helping the children that he couldn't even sleep on the day long journey to the foreign land. He had begged Arizona to tell him what to expect but all she would tell him was that it wouldn't be anything like he could even imagine. She was right. He expected lots of dirt and buildings made out of mud. He expected to see the streets overcrowded with children who were malnourished and barely had any clothes. When he and Arizona stepped out of the airport in Lilongwe to their waiting car he was surprised to see that he was surrounded by what seemed to be a major city. He didn't expect to see paved, bustling roads full of cars and trucks. Arizona laughed as she watched him take it all in. She then explained that they would be spending most of the week in Lilongwe performing surgeries in a very technologically advanced Malawian hospital. Toward the end of their stay they would venture into the smaller towns surrounding the area to treat and diagnose patients that couldn't make it into the city for help. It would be when they went into the small villages that Alex would get to see the Africa that he imagined in his mind.

The pair wasted no time with getting down to business in the hospital. This was not a vacation – it was work so they went straight from the airport to the hospital to start seeing patients. The doctors at the clinic had patients scheduled for ten hours a day, each day for of the visiting doctors' time in Malawi. Alex and Arizona jumped right in as soon as they arrived. They didn't even have enough time to feel jet lag from the time change and trip.

Arizona and Alex were a well oiled machine in the operating rooms in Malawi. Alex knew exactly what Arizona wanted and needed in surgery before she had to open her mouth. They worked together on the more difficult surgeries and on the simpler ones Arizona let Alex run the show on his own so that they could see more patients during their stay. They were so busy that they didn't even feel tired until they were done for the day and had made their way back to their hotel rooms. After three days of long surgeries and little to no sleep, Alex was still just as happy as he was when they arrived in Malawi. He could see that he was making a difference in the lives of these children and their families. He was able to give children the rest of their lives back by fixing ailments that were easily fixable in the United States but considered life threatening in Malawi. Arizona was also thrilled to be back in Malawi. She wasn't able to enjoy Malawi when she was there previously; she was too sad and upset about Callie to appreciate the fact that she was helping to save childrens' lives. This trip, Arizona was able to smile and appreciate being able to help so many people in need.

During their fourth day in Malawi, Alex found that he had a short break in his schedule. He had just scrubbed out after repairing a hernia that took a lot less time than he had estimated. He offered his services elsewhere in the hospital but was told that everything was good in the hospital and that he should enjoy his break. The sound of laughter brought Alex to the back of the hospital where he found a group of young boys playing soccer. Alex stood to the side and watched as the children played. The kids varied in ages from four to ten and all were able to move with the ball flawlessly. They were laughing and goading each other as they sought to beat each other in the game. In the United States the kids were always busy playing on their electronic devices even when outside, it was refreshing to see kids having so much fun with a simple toy like a soccer ball. While Alex was observing the game, the ball got away from the kids and headed right toward him; he instinctively lurched out with his foot to stop it from getting away from going past him. Once the group of little boys was alerted to Alex's presence they all but demanded that he join them in their game. Alex tried to tell the kids no, that it wasn't fair as he was much bigger than them and would make their teams off balance but the boys wouldn't have it and insisted he play. Alex joined in on the makeshift soccer field. Instead of picking one team over the other to play with, Alex decided to play goal keeper and let all of the kids try to score on him. Of course, Alex made sure to dramatically miss most of the shots. He had been outside playing with the kids for over a half hour when Arizona stepped out into the African sun and smiled at him. She watched as Alex blocked a little boy's shot on goal.

"Maybe you should try playing with someone your own size," Arizona shouted above the laughter of the children in the courtyard. She had just finished her own surgery and went to find Alex for a lunch with the Carter-Madison grant committee. She was happy to see that Alex was playing with the kids. With their busy schedules in the OR, they hadn't had time to spend time in the community. Arizona knew that there was more to the experience of helping children in Malawi than just surgery and she was happy to see that Alex was learning that as well.

Alex's head snapped up at the familiar voice. He had been so engrossed in playing that time had gotten away from him. Alex rolled the ball on the ground toward Arizona, "You think you can do better?"

Arizona played with the ball as it landed between her feet. Alex looked cocky as he stood between the goal that the kids had created with empty soda bottles. Alex didn't know that she played soccer competitively her whole life. She even wished she could join an adult league in Seattle but with her ever changing work schedule, it wasn't fair to commit to a team when she wouldn't be able to be at every game. Arizona decided to show off her skills to Alex so that he knew what he was getting into with his challenge. She flicked the ball up with her right toes and watched as it landed on her right knee. She juggled the ball effortlessly off of her knees, feet and shoulders. After making sure that Alex was sufficiently scared of her, she let the ball drop to the ground by her feet. With one strong kick, she lofted the ball up in the air, right through Alex's hands.

Alex kicked the dirt around him and glared at his boss, "That's not fair."

"Come on party pooper, how about we play a little game with the kids? We have time for a quick one. You play on one team and I'll take the other," Arizona smirked at him.

Alex agreed and they were able to play with the kids for another fifteen minutes before they had to meet the important people for lunch. Alex and Arizona both promised the kids that they'd come play with them again if they had any more free time. Arizona would much rather be spending her free time playing with the local children than schmoozing with the big wigs of the hospital but that was part of the grant.

**…**

After seven days in Africa it was time for Alex and Arizona to step out of the hospital and travel to the surrounding villages. They left the technology and modern amenities of the hospital and went into the field with only their medical knowledge and the tools that they could carry in their packs. They had a guide with them that also served as a translator but besides him they had no one else to help them treat the children they would see in the villages. They visited one village a day and were always given a warm welcome. They were treated like celebrities and showered with local gifts and food to sample. They found more children that needed help than they could even imagine. Most of their time was spent diagnosing and treating cases of tuberculosis, diarrhea and parasite infections. They were also able to spend some time educating local leaders on easy ways to prevent many common illnesses.

While Alex loved the time at the hospital and in the operating room, he felt like he was making the biggest difference out in the villages. He was able to diagnose and treat simple diseases that had been plaguing these families for a long time. He was able to give them quick treatments that would cure them almost instantly. It was because of him that these kids would get a chance at a better, healthier life. He also got to spend more time playing with the kids in the towns. Every time he and Arizona were given some free time they were always dragged into the streets with the children. The kids seemed to love playing soccer which allowed Alex more time to practice his goal keeping skills. Arizona showed off her ball juggling skills and had kids surrounding her begging her to teach them how to do that too. Alex noticed that many of the kids in the villages didn't wear shoes like the kids in Lilongwe did. The soccer balls in the villages were also torn and tattered; many could barely be considered balls at all. He made a mental note to bring some new soccer balls with him on their next trip. He also wanted to see what he could do to get donations for shoes for the kids as well. Africa had touched him and he wanted to do more than just give shots to help.

They spent their last day returning to Lilongwe and checking up on all of the patients that they had helped during the week. When it was time to go to the airport, Alex was nowhere to be found. Arizona figured he had run off with some kids to play outside but he wasn't their either. She went back to the hospital and soon found him in one of his patient's rooms.

Arizona looked through the window of the room and saw Alex holding a little girl's hand. Alex had a book in his free hand and she could see his lips moving. He was reading to the little girl who appeared to be fast asleep. Arizona glanced at her watch. As much as she didn't want to break up the scene in front of her, they really needed to get back to their hotel and off to the airport.

"Hey," Arizona whispered as she quietly entered the hospital room.

Alex turned toward her voice, "Hey."

"Who is your friend?"

"Annika. She was all alone when I walked by and begged me to read to her so here I am reading Goodnight Moon."

Arizona smiled, "Aren't you a big softy, Karev."

Alex glanced at the little girl sleeping soundly in the hospital bed next to him, "I can't say no to a pretty girl. But don't let that get around. I gotta maintain my rep."

"I'll keep this between us. Only Annika and I will know that the Grinch really does have a heart," Arizona winked. "You know you really do belong in peds, Alex. I better see your fellowship application on my desk when it's time."

"We'll see," Alex mused as he let go of Annika's hand and kissed her forehead before following Arizona out of the room. As he approached his fifth and final year of residency, he all but knew that he wanted to go into a pediatric surgery fellowship but he was nervous that he wouldn't get accepted. Pediatric surgery fellowships were notoriously the most competitive and Alex didn't want to get his hopes up of getting one only to get rejected and be let down.

The ten days flew by and Alex and Arizona reluctantly boarded a plane back to Seattle. They both loved their time in Malawi. Arizona was thrilled that Alex had such a great time and really enjoyed the work that they were able to do there. While they were both looking forward to their next trip to Malawi, Alex had to admit that he was also happy to be heading home. He missed American food; corn porridge got old after the first meal of it. Arizona promised Alex a big juicy hamburger when they got home to Seattle as a thank you for going on the trip with her.

They were walking toward baggage claim, arguing about the best burger joints in Seattle to get his burger from when they saw Chief Webber waiting for them by the luggage carousel. They didn't plan on having anyone pick them up at the airport. They knew they were returning at rush hour and didn't want to ask their friends to brave that traffic to come pick them up. They had left Arizona's car in the airport parking garage while they were gone so that they didn't have to impose on their friends for a ride home. As the pair got closer they noticed that the Chief didn't look happy to see them. Arizona glanced at Alex confused at just what was going on and Alex just shrugged in response.

Richard Webber had been at the airport waiting for two of his surgeons for over an hour. The past week had been a whirlwind for him. He was surprised that he hadn't heard from Arizona or Alex while they were in Malawi. He knew that he and several of their friends had emailed both of them numerous times. Webber expected to get a phone call from one of them at some point or at least an email. He overestimated the access to the internet that the pair would have. While they did have access to the internet, they were too busy to log in. Checking their personal e-mails was not high on their list of priorities while they were in Malawi so instead, Webber had to meet them at the airport to break the news. News that he knew would be upsetting to Arizona.

After an hour of waiting, Richard finally saw Arizona and Alex walking past the security gate toward baggage claim. He knew they weren't expecting to see him there. He could tell by the looks on their faces and the looks they shared with each other when they saw him. He couldn't keep the news to himself any longer. He moved from the wall he was standing against to meet Arizona and Alex in the middle of the walkway.

Richard focused solely on Arizona as he reached the pediatric surgeons. He heard Arizona say hello and ask what he was doing there but he didn't acknowledge it. He had to spit out what he had to say. "Arizona, Callie's been in an accident…"

**…**

When Alex heard the Chief say that Callie had been in an accident he immediately wrapped his arm around Arizona's waist. He knew that she was going to need support – both physically and emotionally. He stood and listened as the Chief filled Arizona in on what had happened. He listened as he detailed the injuries that Callie sustained in the car accident. He listened as he went over all of the surgeries that Callie had undergone. Alex noticed that Webber was avoiding one subject; he hadn't mentioned the baby yet.

"She's going to be okay, Arizona," Richard emphasized as he wrapped up telling her what had happened. He reached out and touched her hand, "She was touch and go for awhile but she is going to be okay."

Arizona hadn't said a word. She had let Webber speak without interruption. As she listened to Webber speak she found herself leaning into Alex's embrace more and more. The color had long drained from her face as she stood in shock. Her body was already numb to feeling. She couldn't believe that her Callie had been hurt so badly while she was gone. Richard finished telling her what was wrong but he hadn't mentioned the baby. Arizona's eyes had begun to water because she knew why Webber hadn't mentioned the baby's status. She knew there was only one reason why he didn't say anything about the baby but she still needed to hear him say it. "What about the baby?" Arizona asked quietly as her eyes pleaded with Webber.

Richard's gaze immediately dropped to the floor. He knew this question was coming but he still wasn't prepared to answer it. While he tried to avoid getting involved in his employees' personal lives, he wasn't immune to hearing the workplace gossip that everyone seemed to enjoy. He knew that for several months Arizona was intended to be a third parent to Callie's baby. He knew that Arizona had returned from Africa to be with Callie. He also knew that the two weren't able to make their relationship work. "While Altman and Yang were repairing Callie's heart, both Callie and the baby went into distress. Addison Montgomery had to perform an emergency c-section."

"Richard!" Arizona interrupted. She didn't want a step by step replay of the events in the operating room. She just wanted an answer.

Webber's eyes snapped up to Arizona's at hearing her yell at him. She had never called him by his first name before. He was always Chief Webber to her. He reluctantly shook his head and sighed, "The baby. She didn't make it. Dr. Fields couldn't get her heart beating."

"She?" Arizona whispered to herself. The baby had been a girl. Early on in the pregnancy she and Callie had decided they didn't want to know the baby's sex. Arizona convinced Callie by telling her that it is the one true surprise left in the world. All along Arizona had a feeling it would be a girl.

Richard reached out to touch Arizona's shoulder, "Yes, it was a girl. Sofia. Callie named her Sofia."

At hearing the baby's name, the finality of her death hit Arizona like a ton of bricks and she broke down in tears. Her knees weakened and Alex pulled her into his body. He searched out a bench of chairs and gently guided Arizona over to them. Arizona sat in the chair in a daze. Her heart was broken. She couldn't imagine the pain that Callie was going through. Arizona couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. She didn't know what to feel. She didn't even know if she was allowed to feel. To everyone she was nothing to the baby but to Arizona she would always have a special attachment to the baby.

Webber had left them shortly after giving Arizona the news. Alex and Arizona sat in the airport chairs for a long time. Alex held Arizona close to him as they sat in silence. They sat until Arizona's tears had dried. Alex was sure that when she did stop crying it was because she simply didn't have any more tears in her and not because she wasn't still upset.

"What do you want to do?" Alex whispered into Arizona's hair that was resting on his shoulder.

"I don't know," Arizona replied while taking deep breaths to try to control her emotions.

"Do you want to go to the hospital? Do you want to see her? Richard said that she is awake and alert most of the time."

Arizona lifted her head and looked at Alex with still glassy eyes, "I don't know what to say to her. What do you say to someone who just lost their child?"

Alex tucked a stray hair behind her ear, "I don't know."

"Do you think she'd even want me there?"

Alex sighed, "I think she would. No matter what she knows that you care about her and she knows that you loved the baby."

"Maybe I should just send flowers."

Alex knew that Arizona needed to go and see Callie. She needed to see for herself that Callie was still alive and that she was going to be okay. When Izzie was sick with cancer, he knew that seeing her and seeing that she was still alive was what he needed the most on the bad days. He knew that Arizona needed to grieve for the baby and maybe seeing Callie would help with that. If for no other reason, Callie knew that Arizona was due to return soon and Arizona avoiding Callie would only make things more awkward.

Alex nudged Arizona's shoulder, "Come on. Let's go to the hospital. You don't have to stay long. Then we'll go get some hamburgers. We'll go to Dick's Drive In, I know they're your favorite." Alex paused for a moment when Arizona didn't budge. "Plus they have the best chocolate milkshakes which I know are your favorite. My treat."

Arizona gave Alex a small smile and took his arm as he grabbed their luggage and led them to their car. She knew that Alex was right. She needed to go to the hospital, no matter how hard it was going to be for her.

**…**

Alex drove them the short distance to the hospital. A drive that would normally take twenty minutes took almost an hour because of rush hour traffic. Arizona stayed silent the entire drive. Alex kept glancing over at Arizona in the passenger's seat but what he saw never changed. She kept her eyes locked outside the window with her hands held steady in her lap. Alex could tell that her mind was a million miles away.

Finally after what seemed like forever in the quiet car, Alex pulled into the hospital parking lot. As he turned off the engine he realized that Arizona hadn't budged from her spot. She hadn't even unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Hey," Alex said quietly trying to get Arizona to look at him instead of the window. "I know this sucks and it's going to get worse before it gets better but you need to go in there. It'll only get worse if you put it off."

Arizona slowly turned her head to look Alex in the eyes. She slowly nodded her head forward and undid her seatbelt. "I know," she replied softly as she exited the car.

Alex took Arizona's hand as they walked toward the hospital. He didn't want to risk Arizona attempting to flee before she got to Callie's room. The pair got more than a few looks as they walked through the hospital and up toward the fifth floor where Callie was recovering.

As the elevator doors opened to the floor, Cristina was waiting for them. Webber had called ahead and let them know that they would be arriving. He wanted to make sure that Arizona was fully briefed before she went to see Callie.

"Hey," Alex greeted Cristina as they walked toward the woman at the nurses' station.

Cristina motioned for them to follow her and led them down to the doctors' lounge on the floor. She wanted their conversation to be private.

Cristina immediately began retelling the events of the past few days. She started at the beginning and went through every detail of every surgery and Callie's current status.

"How is she?" Arizona asked wanting to know more about Callie's emotional status than the medical side of it.

"She's… she's trying to be strong. She hasn't really broken down since she's been awake. She keeps saying she's in pain, probably more than she really is, so that she can be kept on the powerful pain killers. Between Bailey and I, one of us has been with her pretty much the whole time. She kicks everyone else out."

Arizona was grateful for Cristina and Bailey being there for Callie but she wondered why it wasn't Mark. "What about Mark?"

"Sloan," Cristina sneered. "He was with her for the first couple of days. The first day that she was conscious and alert he tried to placate her. He told her that they would just make another baby. Can you believe that bastard?" Cristina shook her head and muttered a few more swear words under her breath. "Callie kicked him out after that. Told him she didn't want to see him ever again."

"Fucking bastard," Arizona agreed with Cristina. She couldn't believe that Mark had the nerve to say something like to a grieving mother. Arizona wanted to punch Mark in the face but decided that he wasn't even worth the time. "What about her family?"

"Callie didn't want us to call them."

"Why didn't you call them when she was brought in from the accident?"

Cristina looked to her feet. "They weren't her emergency contact."

Arizona looked at Cristina curiously, "If not her parents then who was? Sloan?"

"No. You are."

Arizona took a sharp breath before expelling it. "She must not have gotten around to changing that."

"She's asleep right now but she should be waking up within the half hour. We're starting to wean her off the more powerful drugs."

Arizona nodded but didn't move. She knew that Cristina was telling her to go sit with Callie until she woke up but she couldn't make her feet move.

Arizona glanced at Alex who gave her an encouraging smile and a squeeze to her shoulder. "I'll be waiting. Take all the time you need. I'll stay all night if you need it."

Arizona took another deep breath before leaving the lounge and making her way to Callie's room.

**…**

Arizona was grateful that Callie was sleeping. She didn't want Callie to see her cry. Tears started streaming down Arizona's face from the moment she walked into the room. Her heart broke to see Callie looking so beaten up. Her head was covered in gauze, she had multiple cuts on her face and arms and that was only what she could see. Arizona knew that the deepest wounds couldn't be seen. They couldn't be healed with a bandage. The wounds that really mattered would be with her for the rest of her life. She'd never totally heal from them but hopefully she would be able to live with them.

Arizona pulled up the chair next to the bed and grasped Callie's hand in hers. It was only ten minutes later when she felt the hand in hers start to tense and mumbles come from the patient's mouth.

"Yang, what did I tell you about my pain meds? I went through a windshield only a week ago. I think it is up to me when you start decreasing them," Callie muttered with her eyes still closed.

"Yang had to go take care of something but I can go find her if you'd like," Arizona spoke aloud. That wasn't what she intended for her first words to Callie to be but she felt like it broke the ice.

Callie's eyes flew open when she heard Arizona's voice. She knew that Arizona was going to be back from Africa soon and that it would only be a matter of time for her to show up at her bedside, she just didn't realize that she was already back. She didn't know how she felt about her ex's presence. Arizona had been the only person she wanted by her side all week but she was also the one person she didn't want to see at all. She knew that Arizona would make her feel the pain that she had been trying to avoid. "You're back. How was Africa?" Callie said hoping to avoid the topic of her lying in a hospital bed for as long as possible.

"Malawi was good," Arizona answered. She knew what Callie was doing. She was avoiding. They were great at avoiding difficult conversations when they were together. "Callie," Arizona sighed as she squeezed the hand in hers tightly. "I'm so sorry."

Callie tried not to tear up when she heard the emotion in Arizona's voice. "This wasn't your fault. It was mine. I should have been paying more attention while driving."

"Don't," Arizona stopped Callie from blaming herself. From what Cristina had told her, the accident was caused by another car running a red light and crashing directly into Callie. "It wasn't your fault, Callie."

Callie couldn't stop the tears from coming down her cheeks. When she felt Arizona's hand reach out to wipe them away they just fell harder. "I should have been here," Arizona whispered. "I could have saved her."

At hearing Arizona blaming herself for not being there to save her daughter Callie broke down into full out sobbing. Arizona didn't know what to do to help her. She wanted to climb into the bed and hold Callie tight but besides the fact that that would be breaking so many boundaries between ex-lovers, she also didn't want to aggravate Callie's injuries. Instead, she held her hand tight and leaned over the bed so that their heads were resting next to each other on the pillow. Arizona kept a tight hold on Callie's hand and stroked her face as she tried to soothe the hysterical woman.

Arizona held Callie as best she could while Callie finally let out all of the emotion she had been holding in since the accident. Arizona knew from her own experience with grief that while this was only the first step it was an important one on the road to recovery. When Callie finally cried all of her tears, she started talking. She went over her entire day to Arizona from what she had for breakfast and what she was wearing to what she saw right before the car hit her. She went over everything until everything in her memory went blank. Arizona listened as Callie finally let all of her feelings out. She listened to Callie's guilt over losing her daughter; her guilt at being the survivor. Arizona did her best to talk things through with Callie and help her see that it wasn't her fault. It was the other driver's fault. Arizona even listened as Callie talked about her daughter. Arizona tried not to cry as Callie told Arizona all about how beautiful she was and her head full of black hair. She knew that Callie was finally releasing her pain and that seeing Arizona break down would not be beneficial to Callie. The two women sat and talked for over an hour. After Callie went over everything from the accident and the last week she then turned to Arizona and asked her to tell her about Malawi. Arizona knew that Callie wanted to keep everything normal but everything was not normal.

As Arizona was describing a club foot surgery that she knew Callie would love to hear about, Callie noticed Arizona trying to hide a yawn. She realized that Arizona had to be severely jetlagged. "You should go home," Callie whispered. "I don't need another babysitter. Cristina and Bailey have that covered. Plus, this is way more than an ex-girlfriend should ever have to deal with."

"Stop. I want to be here. I just wish I could have been here sooner."

"I'll be fine, Arizona. I'm sure Cristina will come in as soon as you leave."

"I'll go home if you let me call your father," Arizona tried to bargain. She knew that emotionally she couldn't be the one to hold Callie's hand through her recovery. They were broken up for a reason and while she wanted to help Callie she knew that it wouldn't be good for either of them. Mark was the only other person that she thought would be able to help Callie but after hearing what he told her, Arizona knew that Callie wasn't going to forgive Mark anytime soon. Callie's father was the next best option.

"No," Callie's responded curtly.

"Callie," Arizona said sternly. "You need your family around you right now. You know he is going to kick your ass for waiting this long to let him know."

"Fine," Callie knew that Arizona was going to call him whether she approved of it or not. "But just a heads up, you might want to hide when he shows up. He knows we broke up. Remember the first time you met him? Throwing George and…Mark…," Callie paused as she said the last name, like it was painful for her to even say it aloud. "Just keep clear until I tell him that you're not the monster I made you out to be when I was hurting from the breakup."

Arizona smiled at the memory of meeting Mr. Torres for the first time, "Okay. I'll keep that in mind." Arizona squeezed Callie's hand softly. "I'll come see you soon. Don't give Yang too hard of a time about the meds. If you want to get out of here, you have to get off of them."

"Thanks for coming. You didn't have to," Callie said quietly as she avoided eye contact.

Arizona leaned down and kissed Callie's forehead before leaving the room.

Alex had been waiting just outside the room and hopped to his feet as soon as he saw the door open. Arizona had been with Callie for over two hours; with the emotional drain of spending time with Callie and the jetlag, he knew that Arizona was about to fall apart. Alex held out his arm for her and she immediately latched on. "How about that milkshake?"

Arizona nodded her head vigorously as Alex led them away.

**…**

Alex kept waiting for Arizona to break down. He knew it was coming. He had known Arizona long enough to know that she didn't like people to know that she actually had feelings. She didn't show the real Arizona to many people. Most people thought she was always perky and happy. They didn't know that was just a façade. They didn't see what was just underneath the surface. She was so strong on the outside but perky, happy people didn't have nightmares about tiny coffins. Alex kept a watchful eye on Arizona but she showed no signs of breaking down as they ate their takeout hamburgers. Even as he watched her polish off her large chocolate shake she was still conversing about their time in Africa like the last four hours of their life hadn't even happened.

Arizona politely excused herself to her bedroom after she finished her dinner. Their bodies were so confused as to what time of day it was so Arizona going to bed at eight in the evening wasn't unexpected. Alex nodded and let her go without pushing her to talk. Arizona appreciated the fact that Alex was giving her time to process before making her talk about Callie and the accident. After being upstairs for a few minutes, Alex could hear Arizona turning on the bath tub in the master bedroom. Alex sighed as he started picking up their trash. He was exhausted but didn't want to go to sleep just yet. He wanted to keep an eye on Arizona until he knew that she was asleep.

They had only been living in the house for a little over a week before they left for Africa so there was still plenty for him to do to make himself useful. The downstairs living areas were construction zones as the floors were ripped up waiting for Arizona and Alex to have time to lay down the new wood flooring Arizona had picked out. Boxes littered the hallways of the house, waiting for the occupants to have time to unpack them. After taking his luggage up to his room, he made a pile of laundry to be washed. He headed down to the laundry room to start a load when he decided to be a good roommate and ask Arizona for her dirty clothes as well. When they moved in Alex commented on the washer and dryer Arizona had purchased as they were the top of the line. Arizona stated that she despised doing laundry and thought if she had the best machines with all the cool features she might be more willing to do laundry before it became a necessity. Alex hated doing laundry too but wanted to make at least one part of Arizona's life better.

Alex stopped outside of Arizona's room and tapped lightly. It had been over a half hour since he heard the running water of the bath stop so he knew that she would be out of the tub. When Arizona didn't answer he decided to push the door open to see if she was asleep or not. He expected to see Arizona sprawled out in the middle of her bed snoring. Instead, he saw a blonde head of hair poking out from the covers, curled up in the fetal position on the very edge of the king sized bed. He would have thought she was sleeping if he didn't notice the covers shaking and soft whimpers coming from the bed. Alex gently put down the laundry basket and made his way into the room.

"Arizona," he whispered as he took a seat at the edge of the bed and rested his hand on her back through the covers.

At hearing her name, Arizona only started crying harder. "I should have saved her," she cried out between sobs.

Alex didn't realize that Arizona blamed herself until he heard her say those words. His heart broke for his friend and mentor. From what Cristina had told him, Lucy had tried and failed to revive the baby. Cristina said that Lucy seemed flustered in the operating room and she had already made mistakes before the delivery by not giving the baby steroids in time for them to be effective. To Alex and to everyone else, Sofia's death was Lucy's fault but telling Arizona that wouldn't do any good. He knew that nothing was going to change Arizona's opinion. Alex didn't know what to do to make Arizona feel better so he did the one thing that he knew girls liked when they were upset – he held her. Alex moved from the side of the bed, pulled back the covers and pulled Arizona into his arms. He let Arizona soak his t-shirt in tears until she finally fell asleep. Knowing about Arizona's tendency to have bad dreams he didn't want to leave her alone so he continued to hold her until he fell asleep.

**…**

A/N: I just want to say that I love the Sofia we see on the show. I want to just smoosh her chubby cheeks she is so cute. But for purposes of my story, she doesn't fit. I'm a big believer in destiny and I feel that it exists in the fictional world as well. I feel like it was always Callie's destiny to get into some type of car accident. But we also have the ability to change our destinies and in this story Arizona did that by choosing to end her relationship with Callie. The show made it very clear that it was Arizona who saved Sofia after the accident. With Arizona not in Seattle at the time of the accident, she wasn't there to save Sofia this time. Thus, Sofia couldn't survive.

This chapter also marks a turning point. For those of you readers ready to move on from the sad, you'll be happy that is going to happen. You'll see a much happier Arizona soon. I just had to have some finality with the Callie/Sofia story and now we can move forward with Alex/Arizona. It's still going to be very slow moving to put them together as I want it to be as realistic as it can be, but I hope that y'all will stick with me for it. I do plan on being able to update more than once a week as we hit the holidays and I have holiday vacation time - some perks to teaching. Please let me know what you think and I hope you guys don't hate me too much for this chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me through the last chapter. I'm glad that I only got minimal hate for it. Starting this chapter time is going to start progressing a little faster. I will put clues in the chapters for y'all to be able to put together just how much time is passing. For everyone that celebrates it - I hope that you had a fabulous Thanksgiving holiday. I'm thankful to everyone who has been reading. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Alex woke up slowly as he realized the room was no longer pitch black. It must be morning. He hated waking up. He missed the days of college when he could sleep all day and no one would bother him. In his just waking up daze Alex realized that he had the day off of work and getting some more sleep wouldn't be the worst idea in the world. He rolled his body over in bed and pulled the covers tighter around him as he buried his face in the pillow. His eyes shot open as he smelled the familiar scent of citrus on the pillow. The pillow smelled familiar but it definitely wasn't his own. Alex woke up quickly as it dawned on him that he had been sleeping in Arizona's bed. He had meant to return to his own bed after Arizona fell asleep but apparently he too fell asleep before he could do that. Alex peeked his eyes open and was surprised to see that he was alone in the bed. He glanced out the window and saw the dark grey skies but knew that in Seattle that was a common sight and not an indicator on the time of day. A check of his watch revealed that it was almost nine in the morning.

"Don't get too used to this," a voice came from the doorway to the bedroom, startling Alex.

Alex pushed himself up on his elbows to see the woman in the doorway glaring at him.

"Imagine my surprise waking up with a man in my bed. I have to say that, that is not something that has happened very often in my life," Arizona continued as she walked into her bedroom.

"Sorry," Alex said sleepily as he started to get out of bed. "Your bed is really comfortable though."

"You sleep on a futon. Anything is more comfortable than that."

"You okay?" Alex dared to ask as he stretched his arms up and over his head. He didn't want to push Arizona but wanted to make sure that she knew that he was there for her.

Arizona nodded, "Yeah. I just went on a long run. Did a lot of thinking." Arizona tapped on her head, "I'm working things out in here."

Alex just nodded his own head in response. Arizona had told him awhile ago that running was her own personal therapy. When something was bothering her, she would always go for a run. It was something she had done since she was a teenager when she needed to sort out her questioning sexuality away from her overbearing father. Being all alone with her thoughts and only the sound of her feet pounding the pavement gave her ample time to try to solve her problems and clear her head. "Want me to make breakfast?" he asked as he finally forced himself out of Arizona's bed.

"Sounds good to me. I'm just going to take a quick shower. I was thinking of starting to install the hardwood flooring downstairs today. I could use some quality time with a hammer and a saw. You have plans today or are you up for helping?"

"I'm in," Alex just laughed as he watched Arizona stalk away. When she closed the bathroom door he turned on his feet and headed to his own bathroom to shower and start his day.

**…**

An hour and a plate full of eggs and bacon later, Arizona and Alex were ready to work on the living downstairs. They were going to be spending the day doing manual labor but Alex couldn't help but notice how hot Arizona looked. She could really wear a pair of old torn up jeans and a tight thermal top. She even wore a tool belt around her waist to perfect the look. Alex had to laugh when he saw her come downstairs with the tool belt on. He had listened to her tell him for weeks about various home improvement projects she had worked on including building an entire garage but he didn't know if he could take her seriously with a pink tool belt.

"Seriously?" He asked while trying to stop laughing.

"What?" Arizona asked as she looked up and down her body trying to see the source of his amusement.

Alex pointed toward the belt around her waist, "A pink tool belt? Really?"

"My dad bought it for me. It's my lucky tool belt."

"How exactly is it lucky?"

"When I was nine we were living in South Carolina. Our house had these huge trees in the backyard so my brother and I decided that we had to build a tree house. Tim was almost thirteen at the time and managed to convince our father that we could do it all by ourselves with no help."

"This sounds like it ends badly," Alex interrupted.

"Let me finish!" Arizona huffed at the interruption. "My dad only insisted that he help with the framing of it. He wanted to make sure that it wouldn't collapse on us. So he did that and left us to build the rest. We were putting in the floor of the tree house when I missed the nail and hit my thumb instead. I did a good job of breaking it," Arizona said as she held up her left thumb and wiggled it in front of Alex.

"How does that make your tool belt lucky?"

"What did I say about interrupting?" Arizona paused as she glared at Alex. "Long story short. I was a very upset nine year old that was banned from finishing the tree house. My dad bought me this tool belt as a consolation prize. He said I could be the foreman of the project but I couldn't help until my thumb was healed. Since that day, I've always worn my pink tool belt and I've never hurt myself building again."

"And it is all because of your lucky tool belt?" Alex questioned as he smiled thinking about a young Arizona pouting at not being allowed to finish her project.

"Yep," she said as she walked into the dining room which had been set up with all of the flooring and tools they would need to install it.

Just like in the operating room, Alex and Arizona were a great team at construction work. They knew how to read each other and though the tools were different, they always knew what the other needed. As they worked, Arizona gradually opened up to Alex about what happened inside Callie's hospital room. He was happy that she didn't seem to be blaming herself anymore like she had the night before. He figured that her run really did help her sort out her thoughts. Arizona acknowledged that they can't change the past no matter how much she wished that she could have been there to try to save Sofia; and that Arizona had to focus on the future and what she could change. He could tell that she was still sad and affected by the accident but her concern seemed to be more about Callie and her recovery than Arizona's own sense of loss. Alex internally wondered if the accident was going to bring Seattle Grace – Mercy West's favorite lesbians back together but when Arizona mentioned that she had called Callie's father to be with her and take care of her because she needed someone, Alex realized that Arizona was truly trying to move on for good; after two breakups, he didn't think Arizona could survive a third one and thought that it was a good idea for Arizona to not be Callie's rock during her recovery. The day flew by as they worked and by the evening they had completed the flooring in the living room.

"One room down, three more to do," Alex said as he surveyed their handiwork.

Arizona smiled and winked at him, "For the first project. I have over twenty on my list."

"I'm starting to think that you should be paying me for all of this. My skills, as you just learned, are worth more than just free rent."

"How about I make you dinner instead?' Arizona asked as she heard her stomach rumble. She knew that if she was hungry then Alex must be starving. In her short time living with him she had learned that the man was almost always hungry. The man could easily eat her out of house and home if she let him. They agreed to split all costs evenly when they moved in together including their weekly joint grocery shopping trip. Arizona quickly learned that Alex was making out like a bandit on that part of the bargain as well as the free rent.

Alex paused and pretended to think on the offer, "I guess that'll do."

Arizona turned to head into the kitchen but not before taking one last look at the new floors in the living room. "It looks good," she commented.

"And you didn't even break your thumb this time," Alex smirked as he stood next to her.

"It's because of my lucky pink tool belt," Arizona punched Alex in the shoulder before making her way to the kitchen to find something for dinner. She knew the options would be limited since they had just gotten back from Malawi and hadn't made it to the grocery store yet but she also knew that Alex was like a trash disposal and would eat anything.

**…**

The hospital was strangely quiet when Alex and Arizona returned to work. The aftershocks of Callie's accident were still being felt everywhere. The staff was still traumatized after having to save the life of one of their own. They were all also still grieving the loss of Callie's child. But life had to go on and Alex and Arizona jumped back into life at Seattle Grace – Mercy West with as much passion as they did during their time in Africa. The pediatric staff was ecstatic to have Arizona back. Stark was a horrible manager and had made a mess of the department during the short time that Arizona wasn't around to quietly fix his mistakes.

Carlos Torres arrived in Seattle less than eight hours after receiving Arizona's phone call. Carlos was upset when he got a phone call that his daughter had been in a serious car accident over a week prior. He was shocked to learn that his unborn grandchild didn't survive the accident. He knew that he needed to get to Seattle as fast as possible and stay for as long as his daughter needed him. He stayed by his daughter's side as she began her recovery process and physical therapy. Carlos didn't understand everything that had happened between his daughter and her ex-girlfriend but he did know that Callie had told him that Arizona was not to be messed with while he was visiting. The last thing he knew before the accident was that they had broken up yet again and Callie was inconsolable. Knowing the heartache that Arizona caused his daughter, he wanted to lecture the young woman for breaking his daughter's heart but instead he chose just to leave the room when she would visit. He didn't have any instructions on leaving Mark Sloan alone, the man that didn't seem to care about the death of his own daughter and was ready to replace her before she was barely gone. So when Arizona would visit, Carlos would go in search of Sloan and make his life hell.

Arizona would stop by a few times a week and bring Callie some of her favorite foods. She knew Callie had to be going crazy with all of the mundane hospital food. They kept conversation light during her visits. Arizona would ask about Callie's recovery even though Cristina kept her up to date on that. Not that Callie would say anything more than that things were 'going well.' They didn't delve into any of the emotional issues likethey did that first night that Arizona had visited. Cristina also kept Arizona up to date on the more personal of Callie's issues; the issues that Callie and Arizona avoided when they spoke. She learned that Callie had been seeing a therapist and was starting to work through the issues related to the accident and her daughter's death. Cristina also told her that Callie had not yet forgiven Mark for his harsh words but with the help of the therapist was beginning to let him back into her life. After a month in the hospital, Callie was declared fully healed and released. She was offered more time off to recover but she was ready to put her life back together and get back to work.

**…**

Time passed by quickly for Alex and Arizona after they returned from their first trip to Africa together. Stark saw them as the enemy and kept them as busy as possible while at work. Alex was busy competing for Chief Resident and Arizona was doing her best to stay out of Stark's war path. When they weren't at work they would be working at home on many of the projects that they had to complete. Before they knew it, it was time to return to Malawi again. They had been spending so much time together, that when they returned from their second trip to Malawi, their friends and co-workers demanded that they step out of the hospital and home and have a social life again.

For their part, Alex and Arizona enjoyed spending time together and didn't see the fuss when their friends told them that they were spending too much time together. They didn't see it as a problem. As they grew closer they realized just how much they had in common. On the outside they look like complete opposites but under the surface they were more alike than they thought. While Alex had abandonment issues from his life in foster care, Arizona too had abandonment issues due to her father constantly deploying when she was a child. They both loved their siblings fiercely and while Arizona lost Timothy to war, Alex lost his sister to mental disease. It wasn't only the deep issues that they found common ground but also on the more superficial issues. They never fought over movie night as they both love stupid comedy movies with toilet humor. They would slightly bicker over radio choice but as long as it wasn't a rap station they were both happy. And above all else, there was no better candy than gummy bears. Without even realizing it, they had become best friends.

**…**

Teddy was determined to get her best friend to join the other attendings at Joe's for the night. She felt like she had barely seen Arizona since she originally returned from Africa over a half year ago. Teddy knew that part of that was her fault. In her attempts to maintain neutral with her and Callie she unknowingly pushed her best friend away. She should have taken Arizona's side from the start. She was her best friend and she had no loyalty to Callie but Teddy knew what it was like to be the jilted lover and therefore felt bad for Callie and wanted to support her. Now that Callie and Arizona were friendly again, Teddy wanted her best friend back. She just hoped that it wasn't too late.

"Hey," Teddy smiled at the blonde that was skating on her heelys toward Teddy's patient's room.

"Hey," Arizona smiled. "What do you need?"

"I was hoping to get your suggestions on how to treat my patient with Kawasaki Disease," Teddy handed Arizona the chart and began rattling off the patient's information.

Arizona nodded her head as she listened, put on her best smile and rolled into the patient's room. She spent the next few minutes charming the patient and his family before promising to be back with a treat after Jacob finished all of his tests.

"I need to do some research. Maybe make a few phone calls," Arizona said once she and Teddy left Jacob's room. "There is so much we don't know about Kawasaki's. Let me know when the test results are back and we can go from there."

"Thanks, Arizona. You coming to Joe's tonight?" Teddy asked.

Arizona paused to think for a moment as they walked toward the elevator. "I don't think so. I've got to finish painting a bathroom."

"I'm sure the paint can wait another night. Everyone is going. You haven't gone out with us in forever," Teddy was practically begging her friend to join them.

"Fine," Arizona agreed. It had been awhile since she had been out with everyone. In fact, she hadn't since she left for Africa. She had felt so unwelcome when she returned that she just accepted the fact that her social life at work was nonexistent. But over time things had changed and she needed to make an effort to get her social circle back so she decided to go out with everyone.

**…**

Meredith found Alex all alone in the research library, clicking furiously on the computer mouse and muttering under his breath about not finding the answers that he needs.

"What did that mouse do to you?" Meredith said as she sat next to Alex.

"Huh?" Alex broke his gaze from the computer to look at the intruder.

Meredith looked over Alex's shoulder to see what was up on the computer screen, "You were about to break the mouse with all of your clicking. What are you researching?"

Alex spun in his chair to face his friend, "Kawasaki's Disease. There is just no good information out there on it."

"We're all going to Joe's tonight. Why don't you come with us? There still won't be any info about Kawasaki's tomorrow."

Alex turned back to the computer, "Can't. Arizona needs this research."

"I'm pretty sure I heard Teddy tell Owen that Arizona was going to Joe's with them so I think she will be fine with you having a night out too."

"I don't know. I need everything I can to help with fellowships now that Kepner is Chief Resident. Fellowship applications are due in like three months. And pediatric fellowships are tough to get. I need every advantage that I can get. I don't have a famous mommy surgeon to use to get these fellowships."

"You don't," Meredith agreed. "But you are living with one of the best pediatric surgeons around. I'm sure Arizona is going to give you a glowing recommendation. Plus you have Africa. That is huge. That is going to put all of those other applicants to shame. Now, get off your ass and come to Joe's with us. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"Yes ma'am," Alex retorted as he logged off the computer and followed Meredith out of the research library.

**…**

"Hey," Arizona greeted the table full of her fellow attending surgeons who were already on their second drink of the night. "Sorry, got stuck in a late surgery thanks to Stark."

"No problem, Robbins," Mark acknowledged as she sat down next to him and poured a glass of beer for her.

Arizona tried not to roll her eyes at Mark. Even though it had been months since the accident and even Callie and he seemed to be on better terms, she would never forgive what he said after his own daughter had died.

Arizona glanced behind her and saw that Alex was already there hanging out with his fellow residents. She wanted to go ask him how his surgery with Stark had gone earlier in the day. She wanted to know just what he had done to piss Stark off to the point that he was at an all time high level of asshole to her during their surgery together but Arizona knew that the point of the night was to hang out with others and not just each other. She could ask Alex about that later.

The table fell into easy discussion and laughter as the beverages kept flowing. Being a table full of doctors, as hard as they tried, they couldn't keep the topic of conversation off of medicine. Even though they started out the night separated, after a couple of hours the residents and attendings began to merge together; with all of the personal romantic entanglements between the two groups it was inevitable.

Alex and Arizona found themselves at a table alone with Cristina. If they were sober they would have known that it probably wasn't a good idea to be alone with a drunken Cristina.

Arizona was telling Cristina about a cardio case that they had treated in Malawi when Cristina interrupted.

"Enough of this Africa crap. You two need to get laid," Cristina pointed her finger drunkenly at Alex and Arizona.

"Who says I'm not?" Alex scoffed.

Cristina laughed, "You spend all of your time with Roller Girl. You're not getting laid. You should be getting laid too, Roller Girl."

"I'm not taking dating advice from you, Yang," Arizona rolled her eyes while looking around the bar for an escape.

Cristina hopped off her stool, "I'm married and you're not so you should want my advice. I get to get laid whenever I want. Legally, Owen has to give it up. It's how marriage works. And now I'm going to go find my husband so I can go have sex. Something that you two will not be doing tonight. Be jealous, bitches."

Arizona shook her head as Cristina retreated.

"Maybe she's right," Alex muttered as he played with a coaster on the table.

Arizona refilled Alex's glass as well as her own. "What?"

"Us. Neither one of us have gone on a date in forever."

Arizona took a gulp of beer and shook her head. "I'm not ready."

"Bullshit. It's been over four months since you and Torres split. You're just scared of getting hurt again."

Arizona shook her head, "I'm just too busy with work and the house to be bothered with dating. What's your excuse?"

"Well, my landlord is a slave driver and demands all of my free time to help her install cabinets or build a fence."

Arizona glanced around the bar and noticed that it was full of several pretty girls. "I'm not a slave driver. I've given you tonight off haven't I?" Arizona joked and shoved him lightly. "Go do something about it."

"Now?" Alex asked.

"Sure. What better time? Carpe diem or some crap like that."

Alex looked around the bar and there were at least two girls that he would consider hitting on but he didn't feel right leaving Arizona behind. "If I have to go make an ass of myself then you do too. How about that her?" Alex pointed to pair of women at the bar. "The redhead."

"It's harder for me, Alex. Chances are that no one else in this bar is a lady lovin' lady," Arizona said with only minimal drunken slur.

"You won't know until you find out," Alex said as he pulled Arizona to her feet. "Time for both of us to get back on the horse."

Arizona was right. The redhead definitely didn't play for her team. Luckily, Arizona is good at figuring out if someone is gay before throwing herself at them and looking like a fool. Alex also had a rough outing. His pick up skills had obviously atrophied after going unused for so many months. The hot blonde wouldn't even give him her name but she did take his free drink. While they didn't leave the bar with any phone numbers, Alex and Arizona were finally back in the dating game.

**…**

"Seriously?" Cristina asked as she shoved another french fry into her mouth.

Alex grinned as he took a bite of his hamburger.

"That's kinky," Cristina commented. "Roller Girl lets you do that in her house?" Cristina couldn't believe the story that Alex had just told her about his latest conquest. She didn't even think it was possible to bend the ways that Alex had described.

"She was the one that picked her out."

"Picked her out?" Meredith asked.

Cristina laughed and turned to her friend. "You haven't heard? Robbins is Karev's new wingman."

"Hey!" Alex interjected. "I help her pick up the ladies as well."

Meredith couldn't believe what she was hearing "So it's a team effort? Do you share?"

"She's the one," Alex ignored Meredith's comment and pointed to Cristina. "Who told us that we were lame for not dating. So we decided to date."

"I meant actually date and have a relationship. Not go through every girl in Seattle. What you two are doing is not dating. And at the stories I've heard about the both of you, there won't be any girls… straight or gay left in Seattle soon enough."

Alex just shrugged and smirked as he went back to his lunch. Ever since that night that Cristina called them out about their lack of a social life, Alex and Arizona decided to put more effort into actually having one. They decided that they'd spend at least one night out a week besides Tuesday trivia night. They found that they made a great pair in the clubs. Arizona obviously knew about girls and how they work so she used her skills to help Alex get the girls. Alex also found that he had great talent with the lesbians and was great at talking up his roommate. They didn't mean for their dates to predominantly be one night stands. They just hadn't met anyone worth seeing more than once yet. Quickly they found themselves needing to establish rules for having overnight guests. Arizona's only rule was that she didn't want to see any nakedness. If Alex was going to have sex, he had to do it in his own bedroom. She also really didn't want to hear Alex having sex but she knew that she could only ask so much of her roommate. Alex's only rule was that girls couldn't be left alone. If Arizona got called in or had to leave early, she had to kick the girls out. Alex didn't want to have awkward conversations with his roommate's dates. He didn't want to be the mean one who had to kick the girl out, that was Arizona's job.

Across the cafeteria Arizona was sitting with Teddy and Owen when Mark and Callie joined the table.

"What are we talking about?' Mark asked the table as he set his tray down.

Callie noticed Owen's face was a little red, "Yeah, what's got Hunt all worked up?"

"Nothing!" Arizona immediately answered, a little too quickly not to pique Mark's interest. "So Teddy how is Henry these days?"

Mark swallowed his bite of apple, "No, no. No changing the subject, Robbins. You're turning bright red now so whatever you guys were talking about before we sat down must be good. Now you have to share with the rest of the class."

Arizona grumbled and rolled her eyes. She took a bite of pasta to effectively make it so that she couldn't speak and glared at the man.

"Altman?" Mark questioned.

Teddy realized that Mark wasn't going to let this go so he decided to tell her but be as vague as she could be without embarrassing her friend. "Arizona was just telling us about the date she had this weekend. It didn't end well."

For her part, Callie kept to herself as she ate her lunch. She and Arizona had become friendly over the last few months but just on a surface level. They had even hung out a couple of times outside of work with it being just the two of them. But they never talked about their romantic lives. That subject was off limits.

"Hunt does not look like a tomato because Robbins' date went bad. This has to be good." Mark rubbed his hands together, "What happened? She too much for you in the sack?"

Arizona decided to face the music and just tell the truth. "Apparently I was too much for her in the sack. She ended up in the hospital with a broken arm."

Mark busted up laughing at Arizona's admission. "Please tell me you brought her here," he said while trying to calm down.

"No way was I going to embarrass myself more by bringing her here. I took her to Seattle Pres."

Mark glanced at Callie, "Yeah that could have been awkward having to have Callie set your date's broken bone."

Callie tried to not make eye contact with Arizona. She had heard the stories that Arizona was dating again. She knew it would happen eventually but she didn't like the idea of someone else being with Arizona so intimately.

When Mark finally stopped laughing he wanted more details, "How in the world did she break her arm?"

Arizona rolled her eyes and answered the man, "She fell off of the kitchen counter and that is all you are getting, Sloan." She too found the story funny but wasn't going to let Mark know that. She and Alex spent a good half hour laughing about what happened when Arizona returned from the Seattle Presbyterian emergency room that night. After the trip to the ER, Arizona thought it was best to send the girl on her way. Plus, it wasn't like she would be very useful with her right hand in a cast.

Mark smirked as he took the last bite of his apple, "Did you at least get off?"

Arizona rolled her eyes one last time before standing up and leaving the table in a huff.

"She really broke her date's arm?" Mark turned to ask Teddy as soon as Arizona had walked away.

Teddy just nodded her head.

"Damn." Mark turned to Callie, "I don't remember you telling me any good stories like that from when you were together? I had no idea Arizona was so frisky."

Mark and Owen's pagers went off before Callie could answer Mark. The two quickly made their leave from the table leaving Teddy and Callie behind. Teddy and Callie weren't friends on their own right. They had been friends because of Arizona. In fact, Callie couldn't really remember spending any time with Teddy by herself. An awkward silence took over the table after the men left.

Callie's couldn't contain her curiosity about Arizona. "She's dating?" she asked knowing that she didn't have to specify who the she that Callie was referencing.

"Yeah. Nothing special. She and Alex just go out to the clubs. They typically make bets about who can get the hottest girl. She hasn't been on a second date with any of them," Teddy tried to explain.

"She's allowed to date. We've been broken up for awhile now."

"I know it hurts. Seeing someone you love start to date," Teddy said while making an unsaid reference to Owen. Everyone knew that while the two never actually dated there were real feelings between them at one point.

"So it's okay to hate these bitches?" Callie joked.

Teddy laughed, "Yeah. For now. Trust me, I met one of these girls and she was so dumb. I don't know what Arizona saw in her. Well, I guess I know what she saw in her," Teddy said as she referenced the obvious physical attributes of the woman. "But these girls aren't sticking around anytime soon. She's not ready to get serious with anyone but you two have been broken up for half a year now so she's going to start getting serious with one of these bimbos soon. When she does you need to be ready for it. Moving on yourself helps with that."

Callie just nodded and accepted Teddy's advice as the two switched subjects to talk about her husband, Henry. Callie didn't know if she should be happy or not to know that Arizona's dates never made it past the first date. Callie had spent a lot of time in therapy talking about her relationship with Arizona. Through therapy she was able to realize that their relationship problems weren't solely Arizona's fault like she first thought. Her therapist was also trying to get her to re-enter the dating scene just like Arizona had been doing. Callie had been resistant to the thought but knowing that Arizona was starting to move on was giving Callie the kick she needed to put herself out there again as well.

**…**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Starting to see some progress. And also hopefully the start of being able to update biweekly! Enjoy, thanks for reading and happy (almost) weekend!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**...**

Alex wasn't surprised to receive a 911 page from Arizona at noon on a Friday. She was one of his bosses and would page him a 911 at least once a day when he was on shift. When he was off shift it still wasn't that odd for Arizona to page him with an emergency. He knew he was the resident she trusted most with her patients. If she needed an extra set of hands, he knew that he was the one who would get paged even if he wasn't working. What was odd about this 911 page was that it didn't direct him to a patient's room in the hospital. Instead it was a 911 page to the softball fields at the park. He scratched his head as he read his pager and immediately checked his email. He was right; the softball game wasn't until four, so he had no idea why Arizona would want him at the ball fields immediately. Instead of sending a sarcastic reply back, Alex decided just to go and see what she needed.

When Alex pulled his Jeep into the ball park parking lot thirty minutes later he immediately saw what the big emergency was. Arizona was all alone at the ball field. She was standing in the batter's box pretending to swing at an imaginary ball. Alex watched as she took one hard swing and landed on her ass in the dirt. Alex bit his lip to keep from laughing as he walked up to the woman who was still sitting in the dirt.

"You suck at baseball don't you?" Alex wondered as he offered his hand to help Arizona up.

Arizona let Alex pull her up and then dusted off her jeans. "Why does Owen want us to play this stupid sport? Or is it Kepner? I think she's taking that Chief Resident power too far. I saw her and Owen conspiring the other day. Softball is the one thing that I'm bad at! Soccer? I was all-state. Running? I've run eight marathons. Field hockey? I can hold my own. Bowling? Well, I don't need bumpers at least. But softball? I don't do softball. And don't even start on the stereotype about lesbians and softball or I will kick you in your softballs."

Alex couldn't help but laugh as Arizona listed off everything that she was good at before finally admitting that she sucked at softball. "You want me to teach you?"

"Please," Arizona nodded as she looked at the glove and bat in the dirt like they were completely foreign to her. "It's just that Katie is coming to watch and I can't have her see me look like an idiot. We haven't been dating long enough for her to see that side of me. That is at least third month territory."

Alex bent down to pick up Arizona's glove and handed it back to her before grabbing a ball. "Katie's coming? Getting serious with this one, huh?"

"Maybe?" Arizona mused. She'd been dating Katherine McDonald, a pharmacist at Seattle Grace – Mercy West, for over a month. They hadn't defined the relationship yet but she was enjoying the time she spent with Katie. She made her laugh and was pretty nice to look at, which didn't hurt. Plus, she could actually hold an intellectual conversation which was more than a lot of the girls Arizona picked up at the bars could do.

Alex tossed the ball up in the air and caught it in his glove as Arizona watched with envy. "I'm glad she's coming. It'll give Tess someone to talk to while we play since she doesn't know any of the hospital people."

"I don't think hospital people even know you have a girlfriend, Karev."

Alex stopped tossing the ball, "Don't say the girlfriend word around Tess. I don't do relationships."

"We all went on that double date last weekend; wine tasting. Wine tasting, during the day, with your roommate and their date – that is relationship."

"Yet you don't call Katie your girlfriend," Alex pushed Arizona's rationality right back on her.

Arizona scrunched her nose and glared at her roommate for pointing out that she was just as much in a relationship with Katie as he was with Tess, even though she really wasn't sure she wanted a girlfriend. "Just teach me how to not look like a fool."

Alex spent the rest of the afternoon teaching Arizona the basics of softball. His major challenge was that Arizona wasn't a fan of catching the softball. She would run the opposite direction of the ball as it headed toward her. After promising her multiple times that as long as she kept her glove up she would catch the ball and it would not hit her in the face she finally began to stop running from the ball. Arizona got so good that they were able to play a proper game of catch. What Arizona really surprised him with was her batting skills. Once he taught her the proper stance, she was actually pretty decent at hitting the ball. Granted, he was tossing easy balls at her as they practiced but he felt confident that she would be able to hit what the Seattle Presbyterian pitchers threw at her – or at the very least not fall on her ass in front of everyone. They had just finished up their impromptu practice session when the rest of the Seattle Grace – Mercy West team showed up for warm ups. The rest of the gang started to take to the field as Owen wanted to start everyone on a series of warm ups and drills to prepare them for the game.

Cristina was putting her bag down in the dugout when she noticed Alex and Arizona were standing off to the side chatting with two women standing on the other side of the short chain-link fence separating the field from the bleachers.

"Who are those girls the babysitters are talking to?" Cristina asked Callie who had come to the dugout to grab a drink of water.

Callie turned her head to look at the women. She saw a tall brunette that she recognized as a pharmacist at the hospital, standing next to a shorter blonde with a dazzling smile. Both of the unknown women appeared to be flirting with the two surgeons standing on the field. "The tall one is a pharmacist at the hospital."

"Dr. Katherine McDonald," Lexie clarified as she arrived to the field. "And I think the blonde is Alex's girlfriend by the way he is looking at her."

"Huh," Cristina and Callie murmured as they continued to watch the foursome laugh together.

"Come on!" Owen Hunt's voice boomed across the field. He was tired of being ignored by his team. He really wanted to beat Seattle Presbyterian and so far his team refused to participate in even the simplest drills he devised as warm ups. Half of his team wasn't even on the field as he saw several of them having personal conversations on the edges of the field.

Alex and Arizona had been chatting with their guests and promising them to take them out for dinner after the game as a reward for sitting through what they were sure was going to be a bloodbath when they heard the new chief yelling at the team to come together. Arizona was still unsure of her softball skills and had been debating just sitting on the bleachers with her date when Alex forced her to say goodbye to the women and go meet the rest of their team. Arizona was pouting as they made the short walk to the center of the ball field. She was still angry at being forced to play a sport, in front of spectators, that she was horrible at. Alex was amused at Arizona's pouting. With the pouting, the pigtails and the baseball socks hiked up to her calves, Alex was at least sure that if Arizona couldn't be the best player on the team she was at least the cutest. Her pigtails were too tempting for him and he had to tug on one as they walked together and whispered in her ear about trying not to get hit in the face with the ball. His actions did just what he wanted to do – he wanted to rile Arizona up. He wanted her to have some pent up anger so that she could use that to get a really good hit in the game. He knew that teasing her about her skills would just make her want to prove to him that she had learned during their private practice session and that she could be a softball player after all.

Callie, Lexie and Cristina watched as Alex and Arizona kissed their respective girls quickly after Hunt beckoned everyone to the pitcher's mound. They watched as Alex tugged on one of Arizona's pigtails as they made their way to the mound causing Arizona to squeal and chase after Alex like they were children on a playground.

**…**

Owen Hunt was pleasantly surprised that his softball team did not get blown out of the water. They had only had one team practice before game day and that practice was more like herding cats than playing softball so when it was a tie game going into the final inning, Owen was more than pleased.

Arizona was second in the batting order for the top of the final inning. Her first two batting attempts were just that attempts. Alex could tell she was really trying but couldn't get the proper timing for her swing. He made sure to pull Arizona aside and give her a quick pep talk before she went to bat.

"You can do this," Alex said as he handed Arizona her helmet. "Just keep your eye on the ball. Step into it and swing."

"But I've been doing that and it hasn't worked!" she whined as she settled the helmet on her head.

Alex grabbed her by the shoulders and gave a good squeeze. Alex watched out of the corner of his eye as he saw Meredith strike out. He knew Arizona needed to get out there and into the batter's box. "Okay. New tactic. Pretend the ball is Sloan's face and just smack the shit out of it."

Arizona giggled at the thought of pretending the ball was Mark but she had to admit that it wasn't a bad idea. If she could just get her timing right she knew she could get a good hit. Arizona gave Alex a nod and a fist bump as she headed out to the field. She let out a yelp when she felt Alex slap her ass. She covered her butt with her hand as she turned to glare at him.

"Go get 'em Zo!" Alex encouraged loudly from the dugout as he winked at her. He knew he would be in trouble when she got back. Not only for the ass slappage but also for using his nickname for her in public. She had been fighting him hard at him calling her Zo but he refused to give it up. It came about when she told him that he wasn't allowed to call her Robbins at home because it reminded her too much of growing up in a military household. Alex claimed that Arizona was too much of a mouthful for him so he settled on Zo. It was a compromise from Zona for which Arizona had threatened to cut his balls off if he ever repeated that nickname again.

Alex was nervous as he watched Arizona get ready to bat. He just wanted her to get a hit. He knew that everyone else on the team didn't think that Arizona was a useful player to them. Hunt had stuck her in the outfield and just hoped that no one would hit a ball that far. After her first two at bats Derek taunted her for swinging at pitches that she had no hope of hitting. But Alex knew that she could do it. He knew that Arizona didn't give up at the first sign of a challenge; if anything, it just made her work harder.

The first pitch flew by Arizona's head before she even realized it had left the pitcher's hand. Strike one. She swung at the second pitch only a half a second before it reached the plate. Strike two. The third pitch was the same as the first – a fastball but this time Arizona knew the pitcher's timing. She watched as the ball was hurled toward her. She knew this was her last chance. She stepped into the pitch, closed her eyes and swung her bat as hard as she could. She opened her eyes up when she heard her team cheering for her from the sidelines telling her to run. Arizona dropped her bat and took off toward first base with her foot hitting the bag just seconds before the ball landed in the first baseman's glove. She sent a beaming smile from first base to Alex who was watching her from the dugout steps. He gave her a thumbs up in return as he watched Derek step into the batter's box to take his turn.

"Was that your coaching that got Robbins on base?" Meredith asked as she sidled up next to Alex to watch Derek hit.

Alex turned and smiled, "I just gave her some tips." Alex turned and nodded his head toward the bleachers. "She's got a girl she wanted to impress."

"Oh. I see," Meredith said before her attention was torn to the field where the sound of a ball hitting bat interrupted her conversation with Alex.

The dugout erupted with cheers as they watched the ball head toward the outfield. Everyone was cheering loudly as they tried to will the ball to go over the fence. It would give them a two run lead and would be just the cushion they needed to beat Seattle Pres. When the ball went over the back of the fence, the Seattle Grace – Mercy West dugout flooded the field to greet Derek as he rounded the bases. Alex was happy that Derek had gotten a home run but he was more excited to welcome Arizona across home plate. She looked as if she had hit the home run herself. Just a few hours earlier she thought she was horrible at softball and after a little practice she was scoring a run. Arizona leaped into Alex's arms after she crossed home plate and found him among the crowd.

"I did it! I hit the ball!" Arizona smiled as Alex hugged her back and twirled her around in a circle.

"I saw it. You did great," Alex smiled as he gave her one last squeeze before putting her down. "I knew you could do it."

Arizona took off her helmet and linked her arm with Alex's as they walked back to the dugout to watch the rest of the inning. "It's all because I had a great coach. I'm so buying you a drink tonight."

Across the field in the bleachers, Alex and Arizona's dates had been watching the game with little interest. They spent most of the game gossiping with each other. They talked a lot about Alex and Arizona as that was the only common ground they had with each other. They were only mildly paying attention when Arizona came to bat but they definitely saw the affection that flowed freely between Alex and Arizona after she came across home plate. Even though Katie and Tess were sure that Alex and Arizona were just friends, they were both slightly put off by seeing their dates being so touchy feely with another person.

Team Seattle Grace – Mercy West ended up winning the softball game by a score of six to five. Arizona's single to get her on base proved to be the play of the game and provided the extra run to win the game. A night at Joe's was necessary to celebrate the victory.

**…**

Arizona had a very long day. She had planned it that way. She didn't want a second of free time in her day. Free time meant that her mind could think about things outside of work and she didn't want to do that. She wanted to focus on surgeries and helping tiny humans, not on what day of the year it was and what that meant for her. She had even made sure that she was working all night even though it was a trivia night. Of course Stark had to demand that she switch her call night for later in the week because he needed that night off. Her plan to be busy all day had crumbled.

"Hey I heard Stark's taking your call shift tonight so we're good for trivia, right?" Alex came up to Arizona at the nurses' station.

Arizona was deep in her patient's chart and barely registered her friend speaking to her.

"Dr. Robbins?" Alex stared at Arizona as she stared at the chart. "Robbins!" he called louder. "Arizona," Alex said sternly finally getting Arizona's attention. He could tell she was in another world. She had been acting funny for days and he had no idea why. She made up an excuse about work when they had plans to go out to the clubs over the weekend and then he found out that she didn't work but instead spent the night all alone at home. He hoped that a night of trivia might help her to open up to him.

"Yeah, Karev?" Arizona asked after he finally got her attention.

"Trivia tonight now that Stark took your call shift?"

Arizona wasn't in the mood for drinking and trivia. She didn't want anything associated with fun on that date but she couldn't stand to see the disappointed puppy dog look that Alex was giving her as he waited for her to answer. "Yeah. Sounds good. You're buying the first round though," Arizona tried to give a small smile as she took off toward her patient's room.

Arizona trudged through the last of her shift. Thanks to Stark taking her call shift from her, she was done at three o'clock and left with too much free time on her hands. After going home and attempting to be productive there and even though trivia started at eight and it was only five, Arizona went straight to Joe's.

**…**

Callie had the morning off but when she did get to work she immediately went looking for Arizona. She knew what day it was and wanted to check in and make sure that her ex was doing okay. She knew from experience that Arizona tried hard to forget that the day even existed but it would always hit her like a freight truck and make her crumble when it did. The one year that they spent together on this day she found Arizona sitting in their bedroom all alone with an almost empty bottle of Jack Daniels. Callie also knew that it wasn't necessarily her business to be worried about Arizona anymore but they were friends and friends were allowed to worry.

"Hey Karev," Callie barked at the resident while she was looking for Arizona. She knew that Alex was not only Arizona's right hand man at work but he was also her best friend. "Do you know where Arizona is right now?"

Alex glanced at his watch, "She should be off by now."

"Is she with the pharmacist?"

"Uh… no," Alex answered wondering what Callie wanted if she was asking about Katie. He thought it was common hospital knowledge that they had split up. "They broke up weeks ago. Do you want me to give Arizona a message?"

Callie was shocked to hear that Arizona was no longer with her girlfriend. They had been together for almost six months. Callie had finally gotten used to seeing Arizona with another woman in the cafeteria without wanting to throw her drink at the pharmacist. Callie took a deep breath. She couldn't get sidetracked by thoughts of Arizona's newfound singledom. Callie let out her deep breath when she realized that Arizona was already gone and knowing that she was no longer with her girlfriend she was likely all alone. She grabbed Alex by the arm and pulled him into an empty exam room. Alex started to complain about her rough touch when Callie silenced him. "How did she seem today?"

"What is this about?" Alex questioned. He didn't know why his roommate's ex was all of a sudden asking personal questions about her.

"Just answer the question, Alex. Is she okay? Is she herself?"

"No, not really. She hasn't been for the last few days. Why?" Alex started to get concerned about Arizona when he saw how much Callie was concerned for her. He knew that there was still so much that Arizona kept to herself.

When she could tell that Alex had no clue what was going on, she decided that as her roommate he deserved to know the truth as he would likely be the one dealing with the fallout.

**…**

When Alex walked into Joe's at a little after seven that night he found Arizona well on her way to being fully drunk. It reminded him too much of the nights he found Arizona at Joe's after her return from Africa.

"You start without me, Robbins?" Alex asked as he took a seat next to Arizona.

Arizona licked the rim of the shot glass and pushed one in front of her friend. She held her shot glass up waiting for Alex to do the same. "To roommates!" Arizona shouted before she tipped the shot glass into her mouth.

Alex grimaced as he took his shot. "Jesus Arizona. Let me get a buzz going before you make me do the hard stuff."

Arizona would have none of that. "You need to catch up, Karev," she said as she pushed another shot glass in front of him. "Stop being such a pansy and just do it."

Callie had warned him that Arizona was likely going to drink her feelings away. She told him that it would be best if he didn't try to stop her as that would only make her angry. Callie had told him to let Arizona deal with the day like she always did by trying to forget it. Alex didn't agree with Callie and was determined to make Arizona talk but he was going to let her drink a little first.

Alex didn't want to ruin trivia night as Arizona seemed actually excited for it so he bit his tongue and played when all he really wanted to do was get Arizona to open up to him. After losing yet another game of trivia, Arizona went to get another round. When she returned Alex wasn't in their normal seats. She looked around and saw that he had moved to a table in the corner. She didn't know that he moved into the corner because he wanted some privacy for the conversation he was going to make her have against her will.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" Arizona asked as she put a tray of beers and shots in front of them.

"Arizona, I know what today is," Alex said as he grabbed Arizona's hand and pulled her into the chair next to him.

"It's Tuesday. Trivia day. Of course you know what day it is."

Alex looked at Arizona with sadness in his eyes. He could tell how much Arizona was hurting. "Arizona, Callie told me. She was worried about you."

Arizona quickly stood up from her chair and tried to get away but Alex wasn't having any of it. He grabbed her hand and pulled her back down again. "Tell me about today. You talk about him all the time but you never talk about how he died."

"Alex. You have no idea what you're asking. Let me just pretend that today doesn't exist," Arizona pleaded as her eyes filled with tears.

Alex stroked the top of Arizona's hand, "But it does exist Arizona and you have to stop pretending that it doesn't. Today we should celebrate Tim not try to forget."

"I can't do this here. Not with all of these people around. Half of them work at the hospital and I don't want more gossip about me crying at Joe's going around. Let's go home," Arizona said quickly as she looked around the bar.

Alex could tell that Arizona was serious about not talking about it at Joe's so he quickly agreed to go home. He led Arizona out of Joe's and into a cab. They walked into their home and Arizona made her way to the couch in the living room. She flopped on the couch and started speaking before Alex had even walked into the room. "This day, six years ago was the worst day of my life. You want me to talk about it, Karev? Fine. Here it goes. I remember every second of the day. I was in surgery on an eight year old little girl, Taylor Winters. It was a simple appendectomy. About halfway through the chief of surgery came in to the operating room and told me he was taking over. My best friend in the program was waiting in the scrub room for me. She told me that I needed to call my uncle as soon as possible. I had to call my uncle because my parents were too upset to talk. My Marine Corps Colonel father was too emotional to tell me himself. My mom was hysterical and couldn't even talk through her crying. And me? I didn't cry a single tear when my uncle told me. I remember saying 'okay' after he told me that my brother was dead. He was on patrol in Iraq when his humvee got blown up by a roadside bomb. He didn't die right away. Can you imagine the pain he must have been in? The agony? The medics got him back to base but he died before he could get into surgery. He was my best friend. We moved so much that friends were hard to come by, you know? Just as soon as I'd have my new best friend we'd be moving again. But I always had Tim. And then one day… this day, he was gone too."

Arizona was in tears by the time she finished telling Alex about the day her brother died. A day she had tried so hard for so many years to forget and most days she did forget that day. It was only on the anniversary of his death that the memories flooded her mind. Every year she always felt like she was back in the hospital at Hopkins listening stoically as her uncle told her that her brother was gone.

"What was his favorite drink?" Alex asked hoping to pay tribute to the man that he would never get to meet.

"Jack and coke."

Arizona was too lost in reliving the memories to notice that Alex had left the room. He returned a few minutes later with two jack and cokes – one for each of them. Alex held a glass out for Arizona and waited for her to take it. "To Tim Robbins. I really wish I could have met him. I bet he would have had some great stories to tell me about you, Zo."

Arizona clinked her glass against Alex's and took a sip. "Tim would have loved to tell you all the really embarrassing stories about me. You're a lot like him, you know."

"Charming, attractive and funny?" Alex smiled and relaxed into the couch next to Arizona. He was happy that Arizona was smiling. She should be smiling when she thought about her brother.

Arizona snorted, "No. Well yes, but you both have that brooding thing down. Tim did the morose teenager bit really well. I think he actually thought he was Kurt Cobain for awhile. He even tried to grow his hair out really long but my dad wouldn't have any of that."

"Tell me a story about you and him. Tell me one that he would have told me to embarrass you in front of your roommate."

Arizona immediately knew the first story that Tim would share with any of her friends. She couldn't believe that she was about to share this with Alex but she knew that she could trust him and he wouldn't judge her. "Well, there was this one time. I was sixteen. I had been seeing this girl. Seeing meaning that we both weren't out so our parents just thought we were very close friends. Which was good because it meant that we were allowed to be in my bedroom with the door closed – something that wasn't allowed as soon as I came out to my parents. At the time Tim was the only one that knew I liked girls. I had told him before he left for school that summer. Anyways, so Amy and I were in my room alone. My parents were both at work and Tim was off at the Academy so we didn't expect anyone to be home. Turns out that Tim came home to surprise his girlfriend that weekend and ended up getting a surprise of his own when he walked into my bedroom and saw his little sister heading for home base with a girl."

Alex almost spit out his drink when Arizona used the baseball terminology to describe just what she and the girl were doing in her room. "Hey at least it wasn't your parents walking in, right?"

"Oh definitely," Arizona agreed. "That's not all though. We were so surprised at the intrusion that I jumped off the bed as quickly as possible. Amy did too except she got tangled up in the bedding and ended up falling off the bed and landing wrong. She sprained her wrist and had to go to the ER. I couldn't look at my brother in the eye for his entire visit home and Amy and I had to come up with a cover story for just how she would sprain her wrist while we were supposed to be studying Shakespeare."

"So you and breaking people's arms isn't a new thing for you, huh?" Alex asked referencing the trip to the ER she had to make earlier in the year with her date.

Arizona turned bright red and hid her head into the couch cushion as she realized the similarities. "You know I hadn't even thought about that. I was so embarrassed. After we got Amy home and after he had spent the evening with his girlfriend, he knocked on my door and spent the rest of the night giving me tips on how to please women in ways that didn't end up with them in the hospital. He would never let me live it down if he knew I broke another woman's arm after that."

"I need to start warning the girls that you date to protect themselves now that I know this is a pattern with you."

Arizona sipped on her jack and coke and scooted closer to Alex on the couch, relaxing when she felt Alex's arm around her, "Oh Tim would have loved you. He would have, of course, given you the talk about looking out for his little sister but after that you two would have been best friends much to my chagrin. He would love that you put me in my place and don't let me get away with anything. Growing up with teachers and my mom, all I had to do was bat my eyelashes and I could usually get whatever I wanted. The only ones that didn't work on were my Dad and Tim – and now you."

"It's a tough job but someone has to keep you in line," Alex smirked down at Arizona and pulled her in closer to his body.

After Alex pushed her to tell him about Tim's death, Arizona was able to open up about her brother. She spent the rest of the night telling Alex stories about the trouble that she would get into with her older brother. Throughout most of the stories she was laughing and smiling. She was remembering her brother without thinking about the sadness surrounding his death, something that she had spent her whole day focusing on. Neither one of them realized how close they had gotten on the couch as Arizona kept sharing stories. Every time their drinks ran dry, Alex would get up to get refills and sit back down on his side of the couch yet they always ended up practically cuddling by the time they needed another drink refill. They felt comfortable with each other. Being with Alex on the couch didn't feel odd or out of place but instead it felt very natural to Arizona.

Alex had just returned with another refill for their drinks and settled back onto the couch next to Arizona when he prompted her for another story. He could see how her mood had shifted from depressed to happy over the course of the night and wanted to keep her happy and keep her remembering the good times with her brother. "Now I know that he must have gotten you into trouble as a kid. It's a big brother's job to do that. Tell me a story about baby Arizona."

"He once scared me so badly that I refused to sleep in my room by myself for a solid month. As punishment, I took over his bed and made him sleep on the floor in his own bedroom."

Alex was curious, "What'd he do to you?"

"My best friend and I…"

"Wait, not Amy right?" Alex interrupted the blonde causing Arizona to turn and stare at him.

"Not Amy, jackass," Arizona rolled her eyes. She was starting to regret sharing that story already. She knew that Alex was going to bring it up every time she brought a girl home. Choosing to ignore Alex's taunting she continued with her story, "I think it was Elizabeth. We were in Florida then so it had to have been Liz," Arizona mused before realizing she had gotten off track, "Okay so Liz and I were watching a scary movie in my room. It was past ten at night so it was dark out. The house was really quiet and we were totally engrossed in the movie. We didn't know that Tim and his friends had been planning all day to scare us. They were lurking in my closet, outside my window and outside my bedroom door. When it got to the really scary part, Tim and his friends leaped out of the shadows and scared us to death. I know it sounds lame but it really freaked us out. I couldn't sleep alone for weeks!"

"So this is why you hate scary movies?" Alex asked as it suddenly made sense why Arizona staunchly refused to watch any type of scary movie – even the ones that Alex assured her were more funny than scary.

"Yes," Arizona said sternly. "I don't do scary. Tim traumatized me for life. I wouldn't go anywhere in the dark alone for a long time."

"Aww, poor little Zo," Alex teased as he nudged Arizona.

"It's not funny Alex. I swear Tim spent the rest of his life finding ways to scare me. He would just randomly jump out from behind a door in broad daylight and scare me. It totally ruins Halloween for me every year. I can't enjoy it because I think one of those little kids dressed up like a monster is going to pull out a knife and kill me." Arizona curled into Alex's side for protection as she remembered the utter fear that her older brother had put her through that night.

Alex poked Arizona in the side, "So I take it we're not going to be handing out candy for Halloween this year?"

"Not once the sun goes down!" Arizona exclaimed as she shuddered thinking about opening her door to strangers in the dark.

"I can just imagine little Arizona scared of her own shadow as a kid. I bet you had your pigtails and your pouty lower lip, the one that you stick out when you want to make someone feel bad for you." As Alex said the words Arizona stuck out her lip just like he described. "Yeah just like that. It's no wonder you got away with so much."

Arizona moved to sit up on the couch to protest Alex making fun of her when she felt the alcohol rush to her head. "Alex," Arizona slurred.

At the sound of Arizona trying to sound serious Alex sat up straighter and looked at Arizona face on, "Yes, Arizona."

"You have to promise me that you won't try to scare me. Ever. Okay? Promise me or I will make sure that Stark makes your life hell."

"Stark already makes my life hell. What else are you going to offer me?"

"I'll make my famous pancakes every Saturday. But once you scare me," Arizona moved her hand to make a slicing motion across her throat. "You're cut off. No more pancakes. And you know my pancakes are awesome."

"Those pancakes are good. Okay. I promise that I will not try to scare you. I make no promises about accidents though. I can't help those, Miss Scaredy Cat," Alex held out his pinky as he had become accustomed to doing when he made deals with Arizona.

But instead of linking her pinky with his, Arizona instead grabbed Alex's face and kissed him. He was stunned but instinctively wrapped his arms around Arizona's back and held her against him. Thanks to the alcohol in his system his mind wasn't thinking fast enough to process the fact that he was kissing his best friend – his gay best friend. All Alex registered was that he was kissing a girl and that it felt really good. He felt a spark that he hadn't felt with any of the numerous women that he had been kissing lately.

By the time Alex's mind had caught up to just who he was kissing, Arizona's was on overdrive. She pushed herself off of Alex like he was on fire. She didn't know what had overcome her. All she knew was that Alex had made her feel happy that night. That night that always made her feel so sad; she had felt happy because of him. And looking at Alex as he promised to not scare her – she felt an overwhelming desire to kiss him. So she did and it felt good. It felt good until she felt him pull her closer to him during the kiss and she felt the stubble on his chin. It was like a light went off in her mind and she realized that she wasn't supposed to be kissing Alex.

Alex immediately went into damage control when Arizona pulled away from him. He didn't want to lose his best friend over this. "That… that never happened," Alex stumbled over his words. "Okay? Never happened. We're both drunk and you're hurting."

"Right," Arizona nodded her head and agreed. "We can pretend that never happened, right? We can just go to bed. Our own _separate_ beds and nothing happened."

"Right," Alex parroted. "This won't make things weird will it?" He was worried that even though they both agreed that the kiss never happened that they would still treat each other differently.

"What won't make things weird?" Arizona smiled showing Alex that she was okay with forgetting it ever happened as long as he was. She could pretend that their lips hadn't connected and their tongues hadn't played together if he could. Just as much as he didn't, she didn't want to lose their friendship either.

Alex smiled back at Arizona and pulled her up off the couch and led her up to her bedroom before saying a brief goodnight before going to his own room. They both fell into their own beds all alone hoping that their twenty second mistake wouldn't ruin their friendship.

**…**


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews on the last chapter. This chapter kind of jumps around a lot but it helps to move the story along. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Alex was nervous. He was can't sit still, hands wringing nervous. He had spent most of the month of March interviewing for fellowships. Out of the six fellowships he had applied to, he had been offered interviews at five of them. The one fellowship that he really wanted was the interview he was about to walk into that afternoon. Throughout the course of his five year surgical residency Seattle had become his home. He didn't want to move to Philadelphia, Boston, D.C. or New York. The four other options for pediatric fellowships were on the other side of the country. They weren't home. Before residency he never felt like he had a home. Not after growing up with a crappy home life. He never felt like he belonged anywhere. In college and medical school, sure he had friends but those friendships didn't run that deep. Seattle had become home over the last five years. He made friendships that had become family. He couldn't imagine living somewhere else and he didn't even want to have to try to make a new home. The only thing standing in his way from being able to stay in Seattle and do his fellowship at Seattle Grace – Mercy West was a rigorous interview. An interview that he hadn't even been that worried about because he assumed that his best friend, mentor and roommate would be one of the three interviewers. But when Arizona told him the week before the interview that she couldn't be an interviewer, that she had to recuse herself due to her personal relationship with him, Alex got worried; the fellowship might not be such a lock after all.

"Alex, stop pacing. You're going to wear a hole in the floor and it wasn't even a year ago that we installed it," Arizona said as she watched him continue to pace in the kitchen.

Alex acknowledged her with a grunt and then went right back to pacing.

"Alex," Arizona sighed. "You're going to nail this. There is no reason that you won't get this. You are amazing. You have a great resume. Your cases speak for themselves. And your references are phenomenal, if I do say so myself."

Alex stopped pacing around the kitchen long enough to glare at Arizona. He wasn't in the mood for a pep talk. He had barely heard what she had said to him. He was too busy going over potential interview questions and answers in his head. "I'm going to mess up. I know it."

Arizona moved to stand in front of him so that he couldn't keep pacing around the kitchen. She had just eaten breakfast and watching him walk in circles was starting to make her nauseous. "You can do this. I'm pretty sure you'll recognize some of the questions, if you know what I mean," Arizona smiled as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "But if for some reason you get a little tongue tied, just sit back and look pretty. Dr. Bender is on the panel and she's a bit of a cougar… a total sucker for hot, younger guys. Give her a wink and a smile and she'll do whatever you want her to do."

Alex appreciated Arizona's attempt at making him laugh but it still wasn't doing anything to help the nerves in his stomach. He attempted to go back to pacing but Arizona's strong hands kept a firm grip on his shoulders refusing to let him move.

"Now, I have to go so please stop pacing. I don't want to have to worry about my flooring while I'm deep in some poor kid's chest cavity," Arizona pulled Alex into a reassuring hug. "Kick some ass. And wear a blue tie. Blue makes your eyes sparkle. We're celebrating tonight!"

**…**

In a reversal of roles, Arizona found herself pacing outside the conference room on the fourth floor of the hospital. She wanted to see Alex before his interview but an emergency surgery kept her busy. She didn't want to admit it but she was worried about Alex. Of course she knew how great Alex was and how perfect he would be for the fellowship but she worried that the three people interviewing him wouldn't know that. And knowing that Dr. Stark was one of those three people gave her pause. Stark didn't like Alex. He never liked him after Arizona returned and Alex got Stark kicked out of his own surgery in favor of Arizona, a maneuver that saved a child's leg. Arizona knew that if Stark wasn't objective in the interview it could be the end of Alex's career at Seattle Grace – Mercy West. Arizona had done all that she could do for Alex. She wrote him a glowing recommendation. She even made sure that Alex was prepped on all of the questions on the interviewers' lists. Alex was as prepared as he could be and now all that was left for Arizona to do was wait and pace. Even after the interview it would be months before the final decision would be made, but at this point it was all out of hers and Alex's hands.

Arizona had been rolling up and down the hallway in front of the conference room for a half hour when the door suddenly opened. Arizona halted her movements as she watched Alex walk out of the room and shake hands with his three interviewers. Alex held his breath as he watched everyone walk toward the elevator. As the doors closed he let out a long sigh and then a yelp as a tiny blonde woman clipped his ankles as she skidded to a stop right next to him in her heelys.

"So?" Arizona asked impatiently. She couldn't tell anything from the look on Alex's face or the interviewers when they left the room.

"So what?" Alex asked as he turned around to meet Arizona's over eager eyes. "You hungry? I'm starved. I think I'm going to go down to the cafeteria." Alex started walking toward the elevator without waiting for a response from Arizona.

Arizona saw that Alex was starting to walk away and immediately reached out and latched onto his suit jacket. She kicked out her wheels and let Alex pull her into the elevator with him. "You hungry?" Arizona yelled as the elevator doors closed. "You hungry? Alexander Michael Karev if you do not tell me how the interview went right this second I will knee you in the balls and after what happened at the Christmas party you know that I will."

For the first time since leaving the interview Alex showed some sign of how it went when he smiled. "It went well. Stark tried to trip me up but funny enough, every question they asked me, you'd given me for practice. Now I'll tell you the rest after you buy me a slice of pizza, okay?"

Arizona linked her arm in his as they made their way toward the cafeteria and smiled, "I knew you'd do awesome!"

**…**

"Why are the babysitters sitting outside Owen's office? Are they in timeout?" Cristina asked Meredith as they arrived at the Chief's office intent on finding him to steal his wallet to pay for their lunch.

Meredith and Cristina stood opposite the two pediatric surgeons as they sat on the loveseat in the lobby to the Chief of Surgery's office. They were sitting in silence as they stared at the space in front of them with matching worried looks on their faces.

"What'd you two do?" Cristina asked them. When they didn't respond Cristina waved her hand in front of their faces. "Helllloooo," she called. "Why are you guys in timeout?"

Alex broke his gaze and looked at his hands, "No idea."

"Do you think he found out about our re-enactment of the Battle of Gettysburg that we did last week? Because we used Nerf guns and it was educational! Paul got an A on his test because of us," Arizona rambled as she went over just why she could have been paged to the Chief's office.

Her rambling was cut off when Owen's door swung open and revealed the red-haired man standing in the doorway waiting for them.

"Dr. Robbins, Dr. Karev. Please go have a seat," Hunt gestured with his arm for the pair to enter his office as he turned to find out exactly why his wife and best friend were also in his office.

**…**

"I can't believe it," Arizona repeated for what must have been the hundredth time since they left the Chief's office.

Alex pushed a beer at Arizona, "Believe it, Boss."

Arizona smiled and tipped her glass at her friend. It had been a long year. Over twelve months of reporting to Stark – of always getting the crappy shifts and always being paged in to the hospital in the middle of the night. She couldn't believe it when Owen told her that Stark's contract was officially up. Her face fell when Owen told her that they had offered Stark a new contract but it immediately perked back up when Owen clarified that they had offered him a contract as an attending pediatric surgeon. She laughed when Owen put her new contract in front of her; her contract naming her the head of pediatric surgery. She wasted no time in grabbing the contract from Owen's hands and signing it. She wanted to make it official before he had time to take back his offer. After over a year, Arizona was finally back in charge of her department.

"You're not doing too bad yourself today. Mr. Fellow," Arizona laughed as Alex puffed out his chest. "I mean, you better be accepting the fellowship here. I will kick your ass if you accept Boston's offer."

"Slow down, Zo," Alex placed his hand on Arizona's knee that was beginning to twitch as she thought of Alex leaving her. "Of course I'm not going to accept Boston's offer. While, I do admit that they offer better opportunities for research – it snows too much in Boston for me. Plus, I can't leave you here all alone. We've still got the entire upstairs to renovate. Someone has to make sure you don't break your thumbs because after that close call with the kitchen cabinets last month I don't think that your lucky tool belt is cutting it anymore."

Arizona let out a long breath. She honestly hadn't thought about Alex taking the Boston position over the one at Seattle Grace – Mercy West until Alex started talking about all of the articles that fellows from Boston Children's publish and all of the opportunities that come from them. Arizona had met with each of the potential fellows when they interviewed at the hospital and she couldn't imagine working with any of them over Alex. She and Alex had chemistry that couldn't be taught. Selfishly she also didn't want to lose her best friend. She couldn't imagine not having Alex in her life. Alex had become her rock both in her professional and personal life.

After enjoying a beer together, Alex and Arizona reluctantly decided that they needed to celebrate with the rest of their friends that had started to pile into the bar. All of the fifth year residents had received word about their fellowships that day and had brought the celebratory party to Joe's as well.

Drinks were passed liberally as everyone celebrated their own good news. Most of the residents were choosing to stay at Seattle Grace – Mercy West for their fellowships, causing all of the attendings to celebrate as well since no one wanted to lose their protégées to other hospitals.

"Dance with me," Alex whispered as he came up behind Arizona and wrapped his arms around her.

Arizona nodded and let Alex lead her by the hand onto the dance floor. There was no way that Alex could have ever gotten her onto the dance floor if she was sober. Arizona knew that she wasn't the best dancer in the world but that didn't stop her from rocking out in her own home but dancing in public was another story. Luckily for Alex's dancing pleasure, Arizona's inhibitions were significantly lowered that night.

**…**

Callie had been dragged to Joe's that night by Cristina. Callie didn't have any reason to celebrate that night. She didn't have a protégé that was sticking around to be her fellow but Cristina insisted that Callie join the party anyway. Thanks to Mark, Callie was well on her way to drunk when Callie watched as Alex and Arizona started dancing to the latest Lady Gaga remix on the dance floor.

"She's gotta be drunk," Callie commented to Mark whose eyes were also on the hot blonde who was grinding against Alex.

Mark's eyes were entranced on Arizona. He always tried to be respectful of Arizona because she was his best friend's girlfriend but she wasn't his best friend's girl anymore. "She's hot," was all Mark could get out as Arizona moved to dance with her back to Alex's front.

Callie's eyes bugged out when she saw Alex's hands trail up and down Arizona's body. "I think I'm going to ask her out."

"Ask who out?" Mark asked absentmindedly as he continued to stare at Arizona and Alex who looked like they could be having sex on the dance floor. He watched as Alex's hands trailed up and down Arizona's arms and waist. Mark thought that anyone who didn't know any better would assume that the two were together.

"Arizona, duh," Callie said as she threw a cherry from her drink at Mark's head.

That got Mark's attention. Mark's head whipped around to make eye contact with Callie. He gave a small smile. He knew that this was a bad idea and he needed to make Callie see that before she made a mistake. "What?"

"I'm. Going. To. Ask. Arizona. Out," Callie stated again this time slower in order to ensure Mark understood her.

"I got that, Cal. But do you think that's a good idea?"

"Probably not," Callie admitted honestly. "But I need to try. It's been a year since… the accident. The reasons why we broke up aren't reasons anymore. You and I have established boundaries."

"But why now?" Mark asked as he finished his beer.

"Well, she's not seeing anyone that I know of. And I'm single," Callie paused and ran her hands through her hair. "Maybe everything that has happened to us… Africa… the accident… maybe everything happens for a reason. Maybe we just never got the timing right."

"So you're going to ask her now?" Mark questioned as he looked over to the dance floor to see Alex and Arizona still wrapped up in each other as the song finished.

"Yep," Callie finished her drink as she watched Arizona and Alex separate, giggling and smiling as they headed toward the bar. Callie saw her chance and needed to take it. She hopped off her stool and made her way to the bar under the guise of needing another drink.

**…**

Alex and Arizona were laughing as Callie made her way onto the empty barstool next to Arizona. The two were so into their own little world that they didn't even notice her presence.

"Hey," Callie interjected when the two seemed to be calming down from their laughing fit.

Arizona turned and smiled, "Hey Callie."

Callie lost all train of thought when Arizona flashed her pretty blue eyes and dimples at her. She sat speechless for a moment before regaining her voice. "Congratulations. You're finally back where you belong." Alex let out an awkward cough to remind Callie of his presence. "You too, Karev. Congratulations on the fellowship. Not like Arizona's boy would go anywhere else though."

Callie was saved from having to make awkward conversation with Alex when Cristina came up to the bar and demanded that he join the rest of the residents for shots. Callie was flustered and forgot the strategy she had worked out in her head for asking Arizona out as they were left all alone at the bar. Luckily for Callie, Arizona was drunk and a drunk Arizona was a talkative Arizona. As Arizona started to ramble on about how great life was going to be without Stark, Callie started to question whether it was the right time to ask as Arizona was obviously not fully there.

Sensing that Arizona's ramble was beginning to slow down, Callie saw her chance to interrupt. "So are you doing anything special to celebrate your promotion?"

Arizona looked around the bar. She thought she was out celebrating. "Nothing special. Just enjoying tonight with everyone."

Callie took a gulp of her drink. It was now or never. "I'd like to take you out to celebrate. You deserve something special."

Arizona was confused. She thought that Callie might be asking her out on a date but that couldn't be right. She must have been hearing things because of all the alcohol she had consumed that night. "Umm. Like you and me?" Callie nodded. "Just you and me?" Callie nodded again. "Like a date or just as friends thing?"

Callie sucked down the rest of her drink so quickly that it caused her throat to burn and she ended up coughing. "Yeah, a date," Callie stumbled over her words. She realized she was being too weak and needed to appear more confident and sure of herself. "I'm asking you out on a date. With me."

Arizona found herself quickly sobering up throughout her short conversation with Callie. The last thing she expected that night was for Callie to ask her out on a date. While she hadn't thought about being with Callie romantically in a very long time she couldn't deny that she was still attracted to the Latina. With all of her sex appeal it was hard not to be attracted to Callie. Arizona found herself flustered as she sat on the bar stool with Callie staring at her, expecting an answer to her question.

"Callie," Arizona sighed as she finally found her voice. "I… it's just. You and I. We just got to a place where we can finally be real friends again. Do we really want to mess with that?"

"Yes. I do want to mess with that," Callie answered immediately as she grabbed Arizona's hands and held them in her own. "Just think about. You don't have to give me an answer right now. Just promise me you'll think about it?"

Arizona's head was spinning. It was partly because of the alcohol and partly because of the woman sitting next to her. Arizona just nodded to Callie. Nonverbally agreeing to think about it. Callie smiled as Arizona nodded and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek before leaving to return to Mark. While it wasn't a yes it also wasn't a no and Callie left feeling rejuvenated.

From across the bar Alex had been keeping an eye on what was going on between the two women. He couldn't hear what was being said but he could see that Arizona had gotten flustered as she talked with her ex. He watched as Arizona played with the wrapper on her beer, a sure sign that she was nervous. He wanted to intervene and save Arizona from the conversation but he knew that he had to let her handle Callie on her own. He gripped his glass harder as he watched Callie lean in and kiss Arizona's cheek. He wasn't sure why the sight of another woman touching Arizona made him angry but it did. He certainly didn't want Arizona's ex being affectionate with her. It had taken Arizona months to move on from Callie. He didn't want to see Arizona hurt again.

Alex thought that Arizona would immediately make her way back to him and fill him in on what had just transpired but instead he watched as Arizona went to sit with Teddy and Owen. Alex was slightly miffed at Arizona for not heading straight for him. Alex decided to pay more attention to what his friends were doing and not pay so much attention to Arizona. Obviously, she wasn't worried about him so he shouldn't worry about her.

Cristina decided that the night had become boring as everyone was talking and not engaged in more fun activities. She decided to remind her friends that this was one of the last times that they would all be together without huge responsibilities looming over their heads. Once they began their fellowships they were expected to do real work, research and publish papers. Cristina decided a night of good old fashioned drinking games was in order.

For their part, the attendings watched as the residents turned the back of Joe's bar into a haven for flip cup and beer pong tournaments. It reminded the older surgeons of the college parties held in the basements of houses where the only two options to drink were crappy cheap beer or the ever mysterious jungle juice. Arizona had spent the rest of the evening trying to forget about Callie and her question. She wanted to enjoy the night and not focus on her tumultuous love life. She had fun watching Alex and the others play their drinking games. After watching April and Lexie lose yet another game of beer pong to Jackson and Alex, Teddy and Arizona decided they needed to step in and show the youngins' how it was done. After beating Alex and Jackson twice in a row they switched teams putting Alex and Arizona together against Teddy and April.

"Hey," Arizona giggled as she wrapped her arms around a surly Alex from behind after they lost another two games in a row. "Pouting isn't allowed. You and I on a team together – we always lose. We're losers. We're used to it by now, aren't we?"

Alex grunted and refused to smile.

"Dance with me again," Arizona continued to drunkenly giggle as she pulled Alex onto the dance floor.

Everyone else had realized that they were too drunk to be coordinated enough for drinking games and had long abandoned them for the dance floor. Even those who weren't with someone had found a partner to dance with. Arizona had to stifle a laugh as she watched April and Bailey dance together as they were arguing over who had it worse during their respective chief resident year.

The music was much slower this time around on the dance floor for Alex and Arizona. Neither seemed to mind the change. Arizona immediately leaned into Alex's body and rested her head on his shoulder. She sighed as Alex's strong arms wrapped around her as they swayed together.

"Callie asked me out on a date," Arizona said nonchalantly as they danced.

Alex definitely didn't see that coming. He gently pushed Arizona off of him to look his friend in the eyes. "Really?"

"Yep," Arizona nodded as she pulled herself back into Alex's body.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. She told me to think about it."

Alex rested his head against Arizona's. "What are you going to say?"

"I don't know, Alex."

Alex bit his tongue. He really wanted to lecture Arizona about what a bad idea it was to let Callie back into her life. He was surprised that he was able to keep it in given how much alcohol he had to drink that night but he did. Instead he chose to distract Arizona from the topic of conversation by moving his hands to a dangerously low spot on Arizona's back. He expected to get slapped for his actions but Arizona either didn't notice that Alex's hands were on her ass or she chose to ignore it. Alex just smiled as they continued to enjoy the dance before dramatically dipping Arizona as the song ended and placing a very platonic but lingering kiss on the cheek.

After their dance, they both realized that they were past the fun point of drunk and ready to go home. They said their goodbyes to their friends, hailed a cab and headed home.

**…**

The sun streaming through the windows woke Alex up the next morning. He wondered why the sun was waking him up when he had blackout curtains in his bedroom to prevent this very thing from happening. It was when he attempted to lift his hand up to block the sun that he realized just why the sun was so powerful that morning. He wasn't asleep in his own bed. And he wasn't alone. His hand was currently being held hostage by the tiny blonde that was drooling on his chest. His eyes worked hard to focus as he realized that he and Arizona never made it to their own bedrooms the night before. He vaguely remembered stumbling through the front door over each other before they decided they weren't coordinated enough to make it up the stairs. He sighed as he realized they must have settled on the couch as the only other option besides those pesky stairs that would lead to their respective bedrooms.

He didn't remember how much they both drank but from the size of his hangover he knew that it must have been far too much. He wasn't sure if it was a sign that he had drank too much or that he was getting older but his hangover was the worst he could remember in a very long time.

Alex was surprised that Arizona was still sleeping. She was normally up well before the sun came up; it was one of the many things in life that she attributed to being a Marine brat. Alex spent the first few minutes of consciousness trying to figure out how to get out from underneath Arizona without disturbing her. It was as he was trying to find a way out that Arizona shifted in her sleep and her arm that had been draped around his waist was now dangerously lower. If Alex wasn't awake before her arm ventured below the belt then he sure was after it did. After feeling the lower half of his body wake up, he really had to get out from underneath Arizona before she woke up and found him a little too happy to see her. He bit the bullet and realized that he was going to jostle her no matter what he did so he quickly and efficiently rolled Arizona over toward the back of the couch as he rolled the opposite direction and fell onto the floor.

Alex had to get away from the hot blonde on the couch. He needed to cool off. He made his way toward the kitchen to get some water and hopefully some food that would make his stomach feel better. He wondered why his body had gotten so excited when Arizona's hand touched him down south. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten any action recently. He had been casually seeing a drug representative for the past few months. They had the perfect relationship. No muss, no fuss. Whenever she was in Seattle, she gave Alex a call. They got along fantastically and had great sex – all without commitment, something that Alex had been afraid of since his divorce.

Alex was flipping pancakes on the griddle as he replayed the events of the prior night in his head. Trying to figure out just how he got so drunk that he couldn't even make it up to his bed. But all he could recall was how good it felt to be dancing with Arizona. How great it felt to have her in his arms. He hadn't felt that good since their kiss almost a half a year prior. A kiss that neither mentioned after it happened. Alex wasn't sure that Arizona even remembered it so he was going to stick to their original plan of pretending that it never happened. The anger that he felt the night prior came bubbling back to the top as he remembered Arizona telling him that Callie had asked her out.

"Shit," Alex murmured to himself as he saw that he was burning one of the pancakes. "Shit," he said even louder as he realized that he had a crush on his best friend. "Alex, you can't like her. She'll never like you back, dude," Alex told himself. "You can't do that."

"Can't do what?" Arizona questioned as she walked into the kitchen.

Alex jumped in place as he was startled by Arizona's presence in the kitchen. He turned around, spatula in hand to see her rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she sat at the breakfast bar. "Uhh…" Alex stumbled. "Can't make your famous pancakes. I tried," Alex gestured to the burned pancake on the plate. "But I suck."

Arizona giggled as she laid her head on the bar. It was obvious that she wasn't feeling very stellar that morning either. "Give me a minute. Once the room stops spinning I'll help."

Alex poured Arizona a cup of coffee and handed her some pain relievers as she set out to fix his pancake mess. She had given him countless lessons in pancake making but Alex still made several mistakes. Firstly, he had the heat up too high on the griddle which left the outsides burned and the pancakes raw in the middle. Secondly, he forgot the secret ingredient – vanilla. And lastly, he never put enough chocolate chips in them. He would always just put a sprinkling in but Arizona required a full handful. Arizona was sure that Alex always screwed up pancake making on purpose, so that he wouldn't have to do the work. Truthfully, Arizona didn't mind. She liked taking care of Alex. She liked being behind the stove as Alex kept her entertained from the breakfast bar.

The pair finally started to feel more like themselves and less like grizzly bears after they consumed a stack of pancakes, drank a mug of coffee and had a shower. It was the first Saturday that they had both had off together in awhile. Normally, they would spend their shared days off working on the house but that seemed to be a bit ambitious after their night of drinking. They decided to spend the morning lounging before reassessing for the afternoon. Arizona spent a few hours engrossed in her e-reader as Alex watched sports highlights on ESPN. After she finally finished the latest teen novel that her most recent long term patient declared that she had to read, Arizona was bored. She looked over to the recliner and found Alex stretched out and fully engrossed in whatever basketball game was on the television. During football season, Alex couldn't pry Arizona away from the television but every other sport bored her to tears. She let out a loud sigh as she gazed at Alex, hoping that he would get the hint and realize that she wanted to do something besides lay on the couch all day. She knew that she didn't need Alex to do something but she wanted to hang out with him. He'd been so consumed with fellowship applications and interviews for much of the last year that she started to miss talking about non-work things with her friend.

After the third sigh and the Bulls game was over, Alex finally tore his eyes off the television just in time to find Arizona pretending not to be looking at him. Arizona was working hard at pretending to not be wanting Alex's attention; so much so that she didn't even realize that Alex had gotten off the couch and was mid-jump of landing next to her on the couch. He immediately launched a tickle attack on the unsuspecting woman on the couch only stopping when Arizona had wiggled out of his grasp and onto the floor.

"What do you want to do?" Alex asked as he helped Arizona back onto the couch.

"Well…" Arizona drawled. "We could go to Home Depot and pick out paint and tile for my bathroom remodel."

"Maybe some Bed, Bath and Beyond if we have time?" Alex teased, quoting one of their favorite movies, Old School.

Arizona pushed his shoulder, "Shush you. You love Home Depot even more than I do. Maybe I'll even let you buy that saw you were looking at last month."

"It would make cutting the tile so much easier if we had a wet saw, Zo. Don't make me remind you of the disaster that was the kitchen backsplash."

Arizona shuddered as she remembered the huge mess and all of the extra money the backsplash had cost her as she hopped to her feet. "Then it's settled. Home Depot trip. Yay!"

**…**

It was somewhere between choosing the perfect tile and choosing the perfect paint for the master bathroom that Arizona brought up the topic of conversation that Alex most wanted to avoid – Callie.

"What should I do about Callie?" Arizona asked as she held up a paint chip for Alex's opinion.

Alex shook his head as he looked at the dark grey that Arizona had held up for him. "Too dark. It's always so grey outside. Why do you want that in your bathroom?" Alex held up a much lighter shade of grey, almost metallic silver, for Arizona's approval. "What do you think you should do about Callie?" Alex didn't want his tiny, insignificant crush on Arizona to hamper his advice. He wanted Arizona to be happy even if that meant being with Callie but he still didn't think Callie was a good idea – he just wanted Arizona to realize that for herself.

Arizona giggled to herself as she selected another color. She held up a neon pink for Alex's approval. "How about this for your bathroom?" Arizona continued to look over the wall of colors for the perfect color for her bathroom. "I'm so confused about Callie. I'm still attracted to her."

"She is hot," Alex added before ripping the pink out of Arizona's hands and throwing it in the recycling.

"But we had so many problems while we were together. For heavens sake we broke up three times!"

"This is true." Alex stated as they continued to debate color selection as well as Arizona and Callie's potential for a new relationship. "What about a midnight blue?"

"Maybe for yours. What about earth tones? Bring the outside in?"

Alex moved to the browns and selected a nice tan color, "This would look really good with the dark hardwood in there."

Arizona snatched the color from Alex and stared at it. The color reminded her of Callie's skin color. She always loved Callie's Latina heritage. Arizona wondered just what she had to think about with respect to a relationship with Callie. It should be an easy question. It should have been an easy yes but something was holding her back but she couldn't put her finger on it. A lot of Arizona's memory was hazy from the night before but she did remember that she felt more of an attraction to Alex when he kissed her cheek after dancing than she did to Callie's kiss on the cheek. She had been trying to forget for months about how much the kiss with Karev had affected her. She never mentioned the fireworks or butterflies that she felt during the kiss to Alex due to their mutual decision to pretend that it didn't happen – plus she had no idea what those feelings meant and she didn't really want to delve into them. She was happily gay. She didn't need to be questioning boys at her age. But despite what she felt or didn't feel for Alex, there was still no spark with Callie. "I'm thinking no."

"No?" Alex questioned as he grabbed the color back. "That's a great earth tone color."

"No, no to Callie. We can't go back. I need to leave that relationship in the past no matter how good she looks in a pair of scrubs," Arizona said while picking up several other paint colors, "Let's get a sample of this as well as a grey and a dark bluish greenish color and see what looks best when we get home."

Alex dutifully grabbed the paint chips and got in line to get the samples made. He needed to get some space from Arizona when he felt a wave of relief wash over him when Arizona said she wasn't going to pursue another relationship with Callie. He didn't know what had gotten into him that day – why he was letting Arizona get to him so much. He knew it was a bad idea to think of her as more than a friend. They would never be more than friends. That just wasn't possible. He had to forget about their kiss, about how nice it felt to dance together, how perfect it felt to wake up with Arizona in his arms. He had to forget about the possibility of being with Arizona.

**…**


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thanks for reading and enjoy! More at the bottom.

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The summer months in Malawi were unbearable. Arizona wiped the sweat off of her brow as she made her way out into the hot and humid air from her wonderfully air conditioned hotel room. Most days when she was in Malawi a small part of Arizona would always regret that she wasn't living there full-time like she was supposed to be, but on days when the sun was scorching and her hair frizzed out as soon as she left air conditioning, she was grateful that she was only there for a week at a time.

"I've never seen you so depressed to be in Africa before, Robbins," Alex told his friend as he noticed her grumbling under her breath as they made the walk from the hotel to the hospital.

"I know," Arizona said reluctantly. She really didn't want to hate her week in Malawi but it wasn't just the heat that had put her in a sour mood. She had just had a crappy week of surgeries and lost too many kids in surgery than she should have. "I just haven't had a good feeling this whole trip. I'll be better once we get to the hospital. The kids always put me in a better mood."

It was their last full day in Malawi. The pair of pediatric surgeons was due to leave Malawi and head back to Seattle late the next day. Arizona spent the whole morning in surgery doing a hernia repair. She couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right that day. After a morning of surgery she decided she needed a good dose of cheer and headed to the courtyard for her lunch break. She hoped that she'd find a pickup game of soccer to join or some girls jumping rope to play with – anything to improve her spirits

Arizona heard cheering and yelling coming from outside as she made her way to the outdoor space that the healthier patients and siblings of patients frequented for fun. She could hear Alex's voice encouraging the kids to try again. She was smiling before she even stepped outside. Yes, this was exactly what Arizona needed to help turn her sour mood around.

Arizona's mood had vastly improved after leading her team of rowdy boys to a three goal victory over Alex's team. Arizona did have to admit that the teams were a little unfair and the fact that the Malawian boys refused to try to take the ball from a girl didn't make things easier for Alex in his attempts to win. Alex and Arizona were making their way back to the surgical wing to start their afternoon surgeries when they heard screaming coming from the courtyard that they had just left. Instead of screams to score goals or pass the ball, these were screams of fear. Alex and Arizona immediately turned around and ran back to the courtyard. Arizona was about to pull open the door to the outside to see what was causing all of the noise when Alex jerked her hand away from the handle and pulled her behind the nearby administrative desk.

"Keep quiet," Alex commanded as he pushed Arizona onto the floor. "There are a handful of men out there with guns."

"But there are kids out there!" Arizona stood up to go help the children when Alex tugged her back down again.

Alex shook his head and pulled her behind him as they made their way to the hallway away from the doorway and up to the surgical wing. Once they were clear of the open window, he pulled them both up into a standing position. "We're not getting involved in this Arizona. Those are the rebel forces. They have no problem killing the two white doctors. I've already been shot once and I'd like to not have that happen to me again." Alex shoved Arizona into a storage closet. "You stay here. I'm going to go find Nigel and see what the hell is going on."

"But Alex we have to help the kids," Arizona yelled as she started to push her way out of the closet.

"Stay here Robbins. Please," Alex pleaded as he closed the door to the closet. He had been scared to death when he saw the men carrying guns through the window of the door. He immediately flashed back to the last time he encountered a man with a gun in a hospital. He had barely survived that day and he wasn't going to let that happen again. He had to get himself and Arizona to a safer area but when Arizona started pleading about the children he knew that he needed to try to keep them safe as well. Once he had Arizona in a safe place, he would then go try to help the kids.

Alex had just closed the closet door and was about to make his way to the hospital director's office when he was slammed against the brick hospital wall. When Alex let out a loud grunt, Arizona couldn't help but fling the closet door open to see what was going on. Arizona stood frozen in shock as the large man turned to stare at her. Her eyes immediately focused on the automatic rifle in the rebel's right hand. Her eyes then looked up to see Alex being held against the wall by his neck. She couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes as she watched Alex start to struggle to breathe. After Gary Clark filled Seattle Grace – Mercy West with bullets and she froze in fear, Arizona made a promise to herself that she would do better in the face of danger.

Arizona kept her eyes trained on the gun as she started to plead with the gunman. She avoided making eye contact with Alex so that she didn't lose her emotions. "What do you want from us?"

At hearing the blonde's words the man took his attention off of Alex and turned toward her. "I need help," he said in broken English.

"What… what kind of hel… help?" Arizona stuttered as she asked hoping to keep him talking as the longer he talked the looser his grip around Alex's throat became.

"I need doctors. I have many men hurt. They need help," the man said as he reached out to grasp Arizona by her scrub top and threw her against the wall next to Alex.

Seeing Arizona thrown up against the wall next to him, Alex had to take action; he pushed off the wall and attempted to throw the gunman to the floor. In hindsight, it was probably not the best idea to try to take on the man with the gun but Alex had to try to keep Arizona out of whatever was going on in the hospital. The rebel leader laughed as Alex bounced off of his body. He grabbed the butt of his gun and whacked Alex upside the head with it causing Arizona to cry out in horror as she watched Alex stumble from the hit.

"We're doctors!" Arizona shouted as she watched Alex grab his face to check for injuries. She wanted to do whatever she could to keep the gun-wielding man in front of her from hurting Alex again. "We can help. We're surgeons. Please. Let us help you."

"Doctors?" the man questioned.

Arizona nodded her head furiously. "Yes, doctors. We can help."

The man let his gun hang across his chest as he grabbed Arizona with one hand and Alex with the other. He dragged them toward the hospital lobby. Arizona could tell by Alex's eye contact and facial expressions that he was not happy with the fact that Arizona did not stay in the storage closet like he asked of her. He needed to keep her safe and now she was in the middle of whatever was going on between the rebels and the governing forces.

**…**

In the hospital lobby there was a man laid out on a stretcher. He was dressed in military fatigues and had a black mask hanging from his neck. His clothes were covered in blood and he appeared to have extensive burns to his face. Even from afar Alex and Arizona could tell that this man was in critical condition. He was surrounded by a gang of his friends who were all holding up guns to keep the rest of the hospital staff and visitors away.

The man that was holding Arizona and Alex captive appeared to be the leader of the group. Alex overheard some of the others calling him Anton. After a brief conversation between Anton and another rebel leader, Arizona and Alex were dragged into a treatment room as the rebels brought the man on the stretcher into the room.

Arizona looked flustered as she started to assess the patient. It was difficult for her to focus on helping the man when there were three men with guns staring at her.

Alex could sense her uneasiness as he noticed that she couldn't take her eyes off of the guns and spoke up. "Look. We can't work with guns in our faces. If you want your friend to live, put the guns away or wait outside. You'll be blocking our only exit. We won't be able to run away."

The three men didn't respond to Alex. Instead they spoke among themselves in their native language. Alex could tell by their loud tones and intonation that they were arguing.

"Okay, we go," Anton conceded as he held up his gun as a show of force. "But you fix him or else."

Alex and Arizona got the unsaid message. If they didn't fix him, they would be shot

As soon as the men left the room, Alex and Arizona flew into action. They had no idea how long ago their patient had been hurt and every wasted second was one second closer to death.

"He's lost a lot of blood," Arizona said as she was cutting off the man's clothes.

Alex nodded, "I know. I know. Where is he losing it from?"

"I've got a bullet entry wound on his chest. Roll him over to look for an exit wound."

Alex sighed as he rolled the man onto his side, "No exit wound. Shit. What the fuck were these guys up to? His face is charred with third degree burns. He's screwed. We're screwed."

Just as they finished assessing their unconscious patient, he came to life coughing up blood before passing out again.

"We need x-rays to see where this bullet is at," Arizona told Alex as she rolled the man back over so that he wasn't drowning in his own blood.

"Let's get him up to the OR floor. We'll do x-rays right there," Alex replied as he opened the trauma room door.

Arizona heard Alex explain the situation and the two doctors and their patient were quickly guided up to the operating room.

"Thank god it's not his heart," Arizona said as she looked at the x-rays that showed the bullet had hit the man's right lung. "We need to do a trach now."

"Then what?" Alex asked the more experienced surgeon.

"We're not cardiac surgeons, Alex. I don't know what to fucking do!" Arizona was worried. She knew that neither one of them had the skill to help this man.

Alex could tell that Arizona was getting upset. Her cursing was sure fire sign that she was either drunk or upset. After he successfully put the trach in, he turned his attention to his friend. "We're going to be okay," Alex said softly as he brought Arizona in for a hug. "I won't let them hurt us."

"The only way that's going to happen is if we save this guy," Arizona sobbed into Alex's shoulder.

"Then we save him. We find a way. You with me, Robbins?" Alex asked as he pulled back to look at Arizona. He gently reached up to wipe her tears away as she nodded in agreement. They didn't have any other choice.

Alex and Arizona did the best they could with what they had. They were able to find the bullet and remove it but that didn't stop the bleeding. Both agreed that even if they remembered how to remove a lung without killing the man that it wouldn't help. They needed to replace his lost blood but they didn't have any access to a blood bank. They had failed. The man was going to die. Their only hope was that he would live long enough for them to get out of the hospital with their lives.

**…**

Alex and Arizona had finished their makeshift surgery. They made their patient look as healthy as he could before they brought the rebels into the room.

"So we're agreed. We tell them everything went well. Show them the bullet. We've bandaged his burned face. Then we get the hell away as fast as we can," Alex recited their escape plan for the third time.

"Yeah," Arizona agreed as Alex turned the doorknob to the hallway.

As soon as the room opened, the rebel leaders entered the room to look at their friend. All of Arizona and Alex's hopes rested on the fact that they would be let go immediately.

"He's okay?" Anton asked Arizona.

"Yes," Arizona answered. "We removed the bullet from his chest and treated his burns. But he'll be very sick for awhile. He needs to stay here in the hospital."

Anton didn't like hearing that his man needed to stay in the hospital but could he really expect that his friend who was brought in near death would be walking out of the hospital on his own two feet? Anton looked over the patient and then turned to leave the room. As he turned, two of his henchmen latched on to Alex and Arizona. Their quick escape wasn't looking like it was going to happen.

The men threw Alex and Arizona into the same storage closet that Alex had first told Arizona to hide in. The men didn't say a word as they pushed them into the room. The surgeons had no idea how long there were going to be there or if they would even be let out.

Every noise that Arizona heard from outside the room caused her to jump.

"I'm scared," Arizona whispered to Alex as they sat in the dark. Alex couldn't see the tears running down her cheeks.

Alex scooted next to Arizona and wrapped his arm around her back, "Me too."

"I don't want to die like this."

"We're not going to die."

"Promise?" Arizona pleaded with Alex. She knew that he couldn't promise that. She knew that even asking him to promise that wasn't right but she needed to hear it – she needed to hear the impossible.

Alex kissed Arizona's temple, "I promise. As long as I'm alive, I won't let them hurt you."

Arizona didn't like that stipulation to the promise because she knew all too well that both she and Alex might not make it out of Africa alive. Even with the stipulation it still touched her that Alex would put his own life in front of her own. Outside of the storage room they heard voices. The voices were starting to get louder and getting closer to the storage room. They were speaking in the native language but Alex and Arizona could tell the voices were arguing. Then they heard gun shots. As they heard footsteps stop outside of their room Alex pulled Arizona as close as humanly possible to him and wrapped both of his arms around her. He wondered if this was what it was like at Seattle Grace – Mercy West when Gary Clark shot up the hospital. He was one of the first people shot in his rampage so he didn't deal with the fear of having a gunman roaming the hospital for hours like the other staff did. Alex didn't even remember much about being shot other than the act itself and waking up at Seattle Presbyterian.

They sat in silence as they waited for the men outside to enter their safe haven. They were waiting to be killed. Alex had been near death before when he was shot but he was so out of it due to pain and blood loss that he wasn't very conscious of what was going on. But this time he was fully aware that his life was close to ending. He thought he would see his life flash before his eyes like the movies and books tell people will happen. Alex and Arizona both found out that what was true when face with death is that you do learn what is truly important in life. Facing death helped them to see what they wanted out of life. In thirty seconds they learned more about themselves than a psychologist would figure out after a year of therapy. For Alex, all he could think about was everything that he hadn't gotten to do in life. He actually started to criticize his life choices. He didn't enjoy life like he should. He spent too much time being angry with life to enjoy it. He realized that he had spent the last few years of his life being so angry with Izzie for leaving him that he stopped living. As he sat in the dark closet waiting to die, he promised himself that if he survived he would stop being so afraid and start living again. Arizona kept thinking about everything in life that she would miss by dying so young. Instead of seeing flashes of her past life, she saw flashes of what she would be missing out on if she died. She saw herself watching her kids run around her backyard as they chased the family dog. For Arizona, it was like she was watching home movies of what she could have if she just survived. The one thing that she didn't see in her dream was who she was married to – she noticed that Future Arizona was wearing a wedding band but she never saw the person. A loud bang against the door shook Alex and Arizona from their thoughts as they realized that they had to face reality.

Arizona turned in his arms so that their foreheads were resting together. "I love you," she whispered to Alex as they looked at each other with tear filled eyes both realizing that this was it.

"I love you too," he responded. "We're going to be okay."

Alex had been fighting against the crush he had on Arizona for months but he couldn't die without telling Arizona how he felt about her. Alex reached up and wiped the tears that were falling on Arizona's cheeks. "Arizona, I just want you to know…"

"Shh…" Arizona interrupted. "Don't. We're not dying so let's stop pretending that we are. Whatever you want to tell me you can tell me when we get out of here, okay?"

"Okay," Alex nodded as he let his own tears fall.

Alex gripped Arizona even tighter as the door to the storage room was flung open as Anton reached into the darkness of the room to grab Arizona. Alex held onto Arizona for as long as he could but ultimately lost control when Anton kicked him in the head as he continued to pull Arizona out into the hallway.

Arizona was screaming as Anton pulled her out of the room and pushed her in front of him. He punched her in the face with the butt of the gun in an attempt to keep her still in his arms. He held her close to him with her back to his front and an arm around her neck to keep her in place. Arizona was flailing trying her best to get out of Anton's grip but it was no use as he was two times her size and had a weapon. She could feel the blood running down her head from where he had hit her. When she finally stopped trying to fight him, she opened her eyes and looked forward and she saw that the Malawian police forces had entered the hospital. She could hear fighting and arguing from down the hallway. She saw two police officers coming at her and Anton with their guns aimed right at them. It was then that she realized that she was being used as a human shield.

The police and Anton continued to yell at each other. Arizona didn't know enough of the Chichewa language to understand what was being said. She surmised that the police were trying to get Anton to surrender. She knew that he wasn't going to simply give up. Surrendering meant that he would be sentenced to death in the Malawian courts. She knew Anton would rather die a martyr for his cause before giving himself to the police. She also noticed that there were bodies on the floor down where the police were coming from. There were no noises coming from the area where all of the hospital employees had been held captive. Arizona assumed that they were the only ones left in the hospital. She hoped that the others had been freed but she knew that there were probably many deaths.

Suddenly, the voices stopped shouting at each other. Anton slowly moved his gun that had been aimed at Arizona to instead be focused at the police officers. Arizona knew that this was bad. The officers were going to shoot as soon as the gun was aimed at them and she was right in the middle of it. Arizona had a fraction of a second to decide what to do. She knew that once the gun was pointed at the police that they would start firing and she would be in the middle. Anton still had a firm grip on her from around the neck. She couldn't move. Her only savior would be if she could duck out of the line of fire as the shots were fired. She knew that would be her only saving grace.

Alex watched the scene unfold quietly from the darkness of the storage room. The foot to the head caused his head to collide with the back wall of the room. His head was pounding and he was sure he had a concussion but he knew that he had to save Arizona. He cracked the door to the storage closet so that he could see what was going on in the hall. Unlike the Gary Clark situation, this time Alex could help – and he needed to help in order to save Arizona.

Alex acted quickly when he saw Anton move his gun away from Arizona. He leaped out of the storage closet straight toward the man holding the blonde captive. He made contact with Anton just as the officers at the end of the hall had fired their weapons toward the rebel fighter. Once Anton heard the officers fire their guns, he pulled and held the trigger on his semi-automatic rifle. As Alex landed a blow against Anton's back he caused the man to lose his grip on his weapon just as he was shooting. Alex's actions caused Anton to lose his aim at the officer's chests and instead he was shooting wildly toward the other end of the hall. Alex landed several punches to Anton's head as he attacked him from behind. Anton finally gave up his grip on Arizona allowing her to run to safety. From the moment Alex leaped out of the closet and started attacking Anton to the gunfight that ultimately brought Anton down to the ground lasted only seconds but felt like hours to Arizona.

As soon as Anton hit the floor the officers ran up to his body. Alex's eyes immediately found Arizona as she was slumped against a nearby wall. Her face was covered in blood and tears. She looked truly frightened. Alex wasted no time in getting to her side.

"You're okay," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms. He looked over her body to make sure she wasn't hurt. She had a nasty gash on her forehead but she was otherwise okay. "You're okay. We're okay."

Arizona sobbed into his shoulder as she watched the police tend to Anton's dead body. The police told them that they were safe. Anton had been the last rebel alive and he was now dead. After a few minutes of crying together, Alex pulled Arizona out of his arms to get a better look at her head wound.

"Let's go stitch up that cut," Alex said as he pulled Arizona to her feet.

Arizona noticed Alex wince as he stood up and continued to wince as they walked to a trauma room for treatment. "Alex, you're hurt." It wasn't until then that Arizona noticed that Alex's scrub pants were covered in blood. She was still scared to death but that didn't stop her from going into doctor mode. She ripped his scrubs at the right thigh, where all of the blood seemed to be coming from. "Shit Alex, you got shot," she said as she saw a bullet hole on his thigh.

"No I didn't," Alex argued. "It's Anton's blood. I think I'd know if I got shot. I've been shot. I know what that feels like."

"Alex, look at your leg. You got shot. Your adrenaline is keeping you from feeling it but it's going to hurt like a bitch once you calm down. I need to take that out."

"No, leave it in. Just stitch it up," Alex continued to argue.

"No, I'm taking it out. You don't get to stitch up my head until this comes out," Arizona rebutted. She knew that Alex kept the bullet from his chest wound in him for months and she wasn't going to let him do that again so she pulled the protective card; Arizona knew that Alex wouldn't let her go around with a deep wound on her head so he would cave and let her fix him up.

**…**

It was awhile before Arizona and Alex were allowed to return to their hotel rooms. They had spent hours telling the police exactly what had happened to them that day. Once the cops were done with them, the director of the hospital wanted to speak with them. All they wanted to do was get out of the hospital and away from the memories of the day but people kept coming into the conference room that had been set up for their interviews. People kept asking the same questions over and over again.

When they were finally let go they went straight to their hotel. They hadn't said much to each other since they stitched up each others' wounds. Their hotel rooms were on the same floor but not near each other. Arizona really wanted to ask Alex to stay with her; she didn't want to be alone but she didn't want to appear weak and ask Alex to stay. So they said goodbye as they got off the elevator, promising to call the other if they needed anything.

Arizona headed straight for the bathroom when she opened her hotel room door. She turned on the shower and waited for it to warm up. She needed for it to be steaming hot. She needed to get the day off of her. Arizona was forever grateful that hotels seemed to always have an endless supply of hot water. She stayed in until she started to prune. She had just changed into comfortable clothes when someone knocked on her hotel door. Arizona's immediate response to the knock on the door was fear. She was afraid that some rebel forces had found out that she didn't save their friend and were out to kill her. When the knock sounded again, she quietly made her way to look through the peep hole. Her body finally relaxed when she saw that it was Alex was standing outside of her room.

"Hey," Alex smiled as Arizona opened the door for him. "You up for some company?" he asked. He had spent the last hour in his hotel room worried about Arizona and needed to make sure that she was okay.

"I'd like that," she smiled as she gestured for him to enter. "You have a concussion so you probably shouldn't be alone anyway."

"You want to order some food?" Alex asked as he laid down on the edge of the queen bed in the room.

Arizona shook her head, "I'm not hungry."

"I know but we still need to eat," Alex told her as he picked up the phone and ordered a pizza from room service.

The duo turned the television on and attempted to distract themselves from the horror that was their day but every channel was covering the hospital shooting. They ate their pizza in relative silence. The pair was never at a loss for conversation but that night they found themselves speechless. When Alex noticed that Arizona was starting to fall asleep he tried to excuse himself to his own hotel room but Arizona insisted that he spend the night. She knew that they both needed each other that night.

Alex took the right side of the queen bed and stayed on the very edge of it as Arizona did the same with the left side. After over an hour of laying in silence Alex finally heard Arizona's breathing start to level off. Once she had fallen asleep, he let himself fall asleep as well.

Alex looked at his watch and noted that it was two in the morning. He had only been asleep for an hour when the tossing, turning and cries from the blonde in his arms woke him up.

"Zo, wake up. It's just a dream, Zo," Alex said quietly as he tried to wake the woman from her nightmare. Arizona continued to thrash around the bed and her screams only got louder. Alex gripped Arizona tighter and shook her. "Wake up!" he nearly yelled trying to break the nightmare's spell.

Arizona's eyes flew open. She looked at Alex who only looked at her with concern. She burst into tears and flung himself into Alex's arms. Alex held Arizona tightly as she fell apart. He ran his fingers through her hair softly as he felt her tears start to slow. He whispered softly reminding Arizona that it was just a dream and that she was okay.

"I'm sorry," Arizona murmured into Alex's chest after she had finally calmed down.

"Shh…," Alex stopped her apology. "You have no reason to be sorry."

"I'm a mess and you need to sleep."

Alex kissed the top of Arizona's head, "Right now the only thing I need to do is take care of you."

"Every time I close my eyes I see him. Except this time the cops don't take him out. He forces me to watch as he kills you…" Arizona said as the tears returned.

Alex pushed Arizona off of his body so that they were both resting on their sides looking at each other. "But I'm right here," Alex put Arizona's hand on his chest. "I'm alive. You're alive. And that bastard is dead."

"But…" Arizona started to say before Alex interrupted her.

Alex wiped at Arizona's tears. "No buts. Okay? We're alive and we have so much life to live, right?"

"Right," Arizona nodded her head.

The two continued to stare at each other as Alex kept Arizona's hand on his chest to reassure her that he was still alive. Both felt the sexual tension rise in the room as they lay in bed together. The intense eye contact that they maintained made them both feel like they were staring into each other's souls.

Arizona couldn't take the tension any longer. She took her hand away from Alex's chest and scooted closer so that they were hugging while lying on the bed. She looked at Alex thoughtfully as she cupped his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. Alex immediately relaxed into the kiss. He held her close so that she couldn't pull away. He knew that this was wrong. Unlike their first kiss that was as a result of drunkenness he knew that this one was because of grief and fear. If he was a better man he would have stopped it but he was enjoying the feeling of Arizona's lips on his too much to do that.

Unlike their first kiss, Arizona didn't pull back almost as soon as it started. Instead she intensified it. She pushed Alex on his back and lay on top of him. She needed the emotional connection that came with kissing. During the trauma of the day she quickly realized how much she loved Alex. The thought of Alex being killed devastated her. And in the storage room when they both thought they were going to die, Arizona realized that she couldn't live without Alex.

The intensity of their kissing slowed into a more controlled passion as they continued to prove to themselves that they were alive. Their tongues slowed as they slowed their frenzied actions into a more sensual dance. They were both so caught up in their emotions that both of their hands started traveling to inappropriate places without even realizing it. Alex's hands roamed over Arizona's tank top and he palmed her breasts. Arizona moaned into Alex's mouth before breaking their kiss to pull the tank top over her head. The two began to shed the rest of their clothes and continued to give in to their passion.

"Alex," Arizona whispered as she felt Alex hesitate to take this to the next level. "Please?" she asked as she stared into his eyes as she hovered over his body.

Alex didn't answer. Instead he rolled them over so that he was on top and captured her mouth in another fiery kiss as he gave her what she wanted.

**…**

A/N: This was totally not in my planned outline but after talking to a friend in the Peace Corps in Africa and hearing about the very real civil wars down there I wanted to add in some drama and this just wrote itself almost. Just remember that people do very odd things when confronted with trauma. Now to retool my outline to fit this and the fall out in. I hope y'all liked it. Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Thanks for all of the support on the last chapter. Now onto the aftermath and morning after. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The next morning Arizona woke up with Alex's arms around her. Unlike the kiss they shared months before, this time they would have to talk about it. This time they didn't have the excuse of alcohol to blame their behavior on. This time they went too far. Arizona could feel Alex's deep breaths on her neck signaling that he was still asleep. She didn't want to wake him up. If she moved in the slightest way, he would wake up and then they would have to confront what they did together. She wasn't ready for that just yet.

'Shit,' Arizona thought as she recalled the previous night. It had been a shitty day all around. From the horrible day being held hostage and used as a bullet shield to using her best friend for pity sex. She didn't regret the sex. She had had sex with men before – two to be exact. People always assumed that she was the perfect gold star lesbian but she wasn't; she'd tried out sex with a boy in high school. It was her first time with a man and his first time ever so of course the sex was horrible. In college she decided she needed to try it again since her first experience was so lacking. That time in college it wasn't so horrible. It didn't hurt that the guy was able to give her an orgasm and last longer than thirty seconds. Still, she decided that she preferred women to men. What Arizona regretted about the night with Alex was the fact that it was sex with her best friend. Their relationship would now forever be different. They could ignore a kiss. They could probably even forget a drunken make out session. But sex – they couldn't just pretend sex didn't happen. What Arizona couldn't get over was how much she enjoyed having sex with Alex. She genuinely liked it. She liked everything about it. She liked kissing him. She liked having his hands and mouth all over her body. She liked having him in her. And she really liked the orgasm he gave her. 'Maybe sex really is just a matter of who it is with,' she thought as she continued to go over the night in her head. She wondered if the fact that she truly cared for Alex made a difference in how she felt about sex with a man. But above all else, Arizona felt safe with Alex. She felt safe when they finally fell asleep together and she felt safe when she woke up. After everything they had been through the day before, it was a miracle for Arizona to feel safe. But she didn't know how they would recover from sleeping with each other.

Alex woke up when he felt Arizona tense in his arms. He could feel her breath hitch in her chest as he was sure she was over thinking the night before. He knew that they were going to have to face each other eventually so they might as well get it over with. Alex loosened his hold on Arizona and rolled out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom. He needed a few minutes alone before he had to face Arizona. He needed to figure out what to say to Arizona. He wondered if he should apologize for what happened the night before. He wasn't sorry for it but that would be the gentlemanly thing to do. He also knew that they needed to talk about the fact that they didn't use a condom and he was pretty sure Arizona wasn't on birth control so they needed to discuss what the next steps should be. He knew that he should have stopped it from going so far but he couldn't say no to Arizona when she looked at him with her piercing blue eyes and basically begged him for it. No man could say no to a hot woman asking for sex. And it was great sex. He knew that Arizona had had sex with men before but he didn't expect her to be so good at it. It wasn't just "wham, bam, thank you ma'am" sex. There was real passion and emotion between them. It was sensual. He made a point to remember every moment of it. He knew that it was likely a once in a lifetime experience. He didn't want to forget the beauty that was Arizona's body. But Alex couldn't let himself get lost in the memory. He knew that as soon as he walked out of the bathroom that Arizona was going to tell him that it was a mistake.

Arizona was sitting on the edge of the bed dressed in her discarded tank top and shorts when Alex got out of the bathroom. Arizona couldn't help but notice how good he looked without his shirt on. She had seen him half naked many times before but she had a new appreciation for his body after the night before. "Hey," she was overly perky as she greeted him that morning.

"Hey," Alex parroted as he scruffed his hair and reached out to the nightstand for his discarded t-shirt. "Did you sleep okay?" Alex asked trying to avoid the elephant in the room.

"Yeah. I did. Thank you."

Alex sat down on the bed next to Arizona. He didn't know what to say. What was appropriate to say to your lesbian best friend that you had sex with the night before? Alex didn't know and from her silence it appeared that Arizona didn't either.

"So…" Arizona drawled trying to start some sort of conversation as she continued to stare at her hands. She and Alex didn't do awkward silence. "About last night."

"Don't worry about it," Alex said quickly trying to end the conversation before it even began. He knew where this conversation was headed and he wanted to protect his heart from being crushed. If he said it was a mistake first then she couldn't hurt him.

"It was…" Arizona struggled for the right word to say. Awesome? Great? Fantastic? That is what she wanted to say but she couldn't bring herself to be truthful.

"Inappropriate," Alex finished before she could say anything more.

"Right," Arizona added. "Inappropriate." Arizona was dejected. Alex's quick dismissal of their night together made her think that he didn't enjoy it as much as she did.

"I'm glad we're on the same page," Alex said as Arizona got up to take her turn in the bathroom. "We can just forget it happened, right?"

"Right," Arizona agreed from the bathroom doorway. "We're good."

"You know we weren't exactly…uh…careful last night," Alex stumbled over his words. "Uh… I'm clean but if you want I can get a blood test for you. But I figured you're not on birth control so you'll probably want…"

"Morning after pill," Arizona finished his sentence for him after watching him awkwardly but adorably try to talk about their adventure in unsafe sex. "Yeah. And we should probably do blood tests… both of us. I trust you but better safe than sorry, right?"

"Right," Alex gave Arizona a small smile as he watched her go into the bathroom.

As soon as Arizona closed the bathroom door, Alex fell back against the bed and covered his face with his hands. The last twenty-four hours had been intense. He was more in love with his best friend than ever and she had just told him that their moment of weakness together didn't mean anything. He needed to forget about Arizona but how could he do that when she was still his best friend.

Arizona sank to the floor of the bathroom as soon as she closed the door. "It meant nothing to him," she said quietly as she started to cry. She got up and turned the hot water on in the shower. She wanted to have a good cry and needed the shower to mask her tears. For a brief moment when Alex stepped out of the bathroom she thought that maybe the night before meant something to him too but then he called it inappropriate. "Arizona, you like women. You _love _women. You're confusing your feelings about Alex because he's your best friend. You don't like men," Arizona told herself as she let the hot water run over her body. She needed to remind herself of who she was. She wasn't this person. She wasn't the person that has careless sex with her male best friend. She would just need to forget about her feelings for Alex.

Alex and Arizona's relationship just got complicated.

**…**

While they might have said that they would forget that they had sex – saying it and actually doing it were two totally different things. They both didn't know how to act around the other. Their carefree relationship wasn't so carefree anymore. Their hasty actions the night before made them question every thing they did around each other. Arizona had never questioned her behavior around Alex before but now she was questioning everything. She didn't know if it was okay to continue to be as touchy feely as they were before. Before hugs, cheek kisses and playful touching were common place for their relationship but she didn't know if that was still appropriate.

After the shooting the day before, Alex and Arizona were more than happy to be headed back to Seattle. Their flights home were the first test of if Alex and Arizona would be able to truly pretend like nothing had changed between them. Arizona had always been a nervous flyer. She knew it was stupid since she had a greater chance of being in a car accident than a plane crash but she still didn't find anything safe about being in a flying tin can at thirty-thousand feet in the air. On their first trip to Africa, Alex learned quickly that Arizona hated to fly since before they even closed the plane door Arizona had latched on to his hand with a grip that rivaled his toughest competitor in high school wrestling.

As they walked onto the plane Arizona was anxious as she realized that she probably wouldn't have a hand to hold during the very long flight back to the United States. They went about their usual airplane routine. Alex unpacked both his and Arizona's ipads before stowing their carry-on bags above them. Arizona made sure to grab their snacks and candy before they got comfortable in their seats. Alex always took the window seat and Arizona settled into the aisle seat. Arizona was busy taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself when she felt Alex reach out and take her hand. She opened her eyes and gave Alex a small smile. Alex squeezed her hand in response before shifting back in his seat to try to fall asleep. Arizona realized that Alex must have been just as conflicted as she was about what to do but he still made the first move and reached out to her. Despite her intense fear of flying, Arizona kept the smile on her face as the plane took off as she hoped that this was a sign that maybe things wouldn't be so awkward after all.

**…**

Unbeknownst to Alex and Arizona the news of their involvement in a rebel attack in Malawi had made its way back to Seattle. The news about the shooting at a Malawian hospital wouldn't have made the U.S. national news were it not for the fact that two American doctors were involved and held hostage by the rebels. By the time the news reached the U.S. the situation had long been over in Malawi but it didn't stop the entire hospital from worrying about the two surgeons who had been there simply to help the children. Chief Owen Hunt had been on the phone as soon as he had gotten word of what was happening in Malawi and was thankful to learn that everything was okay with his surgeons and friends.

When Alex and Arizona finally landed in Seattle after an eighteen hour flying day all they wanted to do was go home. Between the shooting and the inappropriate sex, they were exhausted. They were barely paying attention as they walked out of the terminal and toward baggage claim. Alex was mindlessly pulling their carry-on luggage behind him when Arizona stopped in her tracks and pulled on Alex's arm. Arizona pointed to the scene that was just outside the exit of the terminal where the passenger only area met the general public area.

"So much for just going home," Alex sighed as he saw what Arizona had already seen. Not only had the hospital gotten wind of their return flight plans but news outlets had as well. There were over a half dozen camera crews with reporters waiting for them. Alex could see them point and hear talking about them. Behind the carefully positioned media crews, Alex could see a more welcome sight. Teddy, Cristina, Callie, Bailey and Owen had all come out to welcome them back. Neither Alex nor Arizona wanted to be social but it was a more welcome sight than the news crews that would only want them to relive memories that they were trying to forget.

Arizona and Alex pulled off to the side behind a wall where the media couldn't see them. They needed to figure out how to deal with them. They didn't expect news crews. They didn't expect news of what happened to even reach Seattle. As much as Arizona loved the United States she also knew that the country was too self-absorbed to care about what was happening in a small, poor African country.

"I'm going to text Cristina. Tell her to get a car ready," Alex explained as he pulled out his phone.

"Good idea," Arizona added. "Stick with 'no comment' to the reporters?"

"Sounds like a plan, Boss."

After ten minutes, Cristina texted back that she was waiting at the curb and that Owen would grab their luggage from baggage claim and deliver it to the house later. Alex gripped Arizona's hand tightly as they finally made their way to the main part of the airport. As soon as reporters saw them they started yelling out questions and pursuing the couple. Alex and Arizona ignored them as they kept their heads down and finally made it out of the hospital and into Cristina's waiting car.

Thanks to the media overtaking the airport, the group that was waiting to welcome Alex and Arizona home didn't get to even speak to them. Once Arizona and Alex were safely in the car, Cristina mentioned that the crew wanted to welcome them back and were wondering if they could come by their home for an impromptu social gathering. Arizona was too polite to say no even though she knew that both she and Alex just wanted to be left alone.

Cristina, Alex and Arizona arrived at their home a good ten minutes before everyone else. Cristina had informed them that Meredith and Derek would be by as soon as they got off of work and that they would be bringing a special guest with them if that was okay. Arizona, ever the hostess, agreed and took the time to uncork a couple of bottles of wine and make sure they had enough beer while Alex ordered pizza for everyone since they didn't have any food in the house.

Once everyone had arrived, the party had migrated outside. It was late summer in Seattle and everyone knew that soon the sun was going to be replaced by dreary clouds and rain so they needed to take advantage of it while they could. Everyone had been over for over a half hour and Alex was surprised that no one had yet to bring up the attack. He was grateful that their friends appeared to realize that they didn't want to relive that day again so soon. Instead, Owen and Cristina dominated the conversation as they competed in an epic game of cornhole on the back lawn. The peanut gallery of spectators had been focused on critiquing their every throw. Cristina was about to lose the game when the back door to the deck opened and Meredith and Derek arrived with their guest. Everyone turned from their seats on the deck as the visitors arrived. Alex's face dropped when he saw Izzie Stevens walk into his home. Arizona couldn't help but turn to see Alex's reaction when she saw his ex-wife walk into her home. She wanted to make sure that he was okay or as okay as he could be given everything that was going on in his life. Derek and Meredith greeted everyone like they didn't just drop a bomb on the party. Everyone but Alex and Arizona had known that Izzie was in town. She had been in town for three days for a case and when they all learned about the shooting, and she decided that she needed to see Alex for herself to see that he was okay.

After a moment of staring at his ex-wife, Alex grabbed his empty beer bottle and stalked into the house without saying a word to anyone. Izzie didn't know what to do as she stood around awkwardly on the deck. She offered to leave but Arizona told her that she was more than welcome to stay. Arizona made an excuse about checking on the pizza delivery as she went chasing after Alex.

"You okay?" Arizona asked as she saw Alex hugging himself as he stared out the front window.

"Just waiting on pizza," he gruffed not turning around to look at his friend.

"Alex," Arizona sighed and placed her hand on his arm. "I know you better than you know yourself. I know you're not okay."

Alex couldn't believe that after everything he'd been through that week, to top it all off his ex-wife had to return. "What the hell does she think she's doing here?" Alex all but yelled at Arizona. "This is my home. She just walks into my home and says hi like she was one of our friends. She's not one of our friends. She left me. She left me after I stood by her through everything. I told her I deserved better than her."

After Alex didn't say anything for a moment Arizona realized that Alex had stopped his upset tirade against his ex. "I know. She did leave you and you do deserve better," Arizona agreed with Alex. Arizona noticed that Alex wasn't just angry. He was upset. His eyes were glossing over like he was trying not to cry. Arizona needed to comfort him and tossed aside all worries about boundaries by wrapping her arm around his back.

"Why is she here?" he asked not expecting or wanting an answer.

"I don't know. You'll have to ask her," Arizona told him even though she didn't want him talking to Izzie. She didn't want Alex to talk to her and realize that he wanted to be with her again. Arizona felt possessive of Alex and did not want to lose him to Izzie Stevens.

Alex pouted like a kindergartener, "I don't want to talk to her."

"Okay," Arizona said as she squeezed Alex around the waist. "You don't have to."

The two stood in silence as they stared out the front window waiting for the pizza delivery. They were being rude to their guests but they didn't care. They had been through hell and back and they could be rude if they wanted to be. Soon the pizzas showed up and Alex and Arizona had to make their way back outside to their guests.

They heard laughter as they walked back out to the deck. Cristina was standing doing an impersonation of something that had everyone in hysterics.

"Pizza's here," Alex announced as he set all the boxes down on the outdoor table.

Everyone dug into the pizza and no one mentioned Alex storming off. Cristina and Meredith were able to entertain everyone with stories about the new interns. For her part, Izzie sat next to Meredith and kept her mouth shut.

After one slice of pizza Arizona got up to get another beer when Alex asked for her to bring him one as well. Without even thinking Arizona tossed Alex the can of beer. Alex had been talking to Derek about the latest Mariners' homestand that he didn't even realize that Arizona had tossed a beer in his direction.

"Shit," Alex swore loudly as the can hit him in the thigh, right where he was shot. Alex wondered what he had done to be so unlucky in the last few days. Alex gripped his thigh tightly with tears prickling in his eyes. He had almost forgotten that he was shot the day before. The wound only hurt when it was touched and the beer landed right on top of it.

Arizona immediately rushed to Alex's side. "Shit. I'm sorry. I forgot. I thought you saw me. You okay? Do you need some more pain meds?" Arizona felt horrible for inflicting even more pain on her friend that a list of questions rambled out of her mouth.

Alex shook his head and took a deep breath. If he had been paying attention it would have been a perfect toss. He smiled as he realized that Arizona had actually remembered something from their baseball lessons. "It's okay. Just hurt like a bitch for a second but I'm okay now." Alex could see that his friend was upset over hurting him. He reached out and squeezed her hand. "Really. I'm fine."

"What the hell is wrong with you Alex?" Cristina asked not caring that she didn't have any tact. "You scream in pain and Robbins is acting like she killed you. It's like you got shot or something."

Alex and Arizona's eyes bug out as she stumbles on the truth. On their car ride home they realized that the U.S. news did not report that one of the doctors had been shot. Everyone could see their head wounds and stitches but they silently decided that no one needed to know about the bullet wound. Bullet wounds didn't need to be talked about around doctors that had experienced a shooting rampage, many of whom had been shot as well.

Bailey was the first to pick up on the uneasiness that overcame Alex and Arizona at Cristina's comments. She noticed the look they shared and she also noticed that neither one said anything to negate Cristina's comments. "Alex Karev," Bailey admonished. "Tell me that you do not have a bullet in your leg."

"I do not have a bullet in my leg," Alex said calmly without showing any emotion. "Not anymore," he added as an afterthought.

"You got shot!" Meredith exclaimed.

Alex nodded.

"Are you okay?" Izzie followed up, not able to keep her mouth shut any longer after hearing that her ex had been shot.

"I'm fine. Arizona took the bullet out and stitched me up. I didn't even know I had been shot until Arizona noticed the blood on my leg."

As soon as Alex admitted he had been shot the others, especially Teddy and Callie, looked to Arizona for answers about her own health.

"You didn't get shot too did you?" Bailey asked Arizona.

Arizona shook her head and squeezed Alex's hand that she didn't even realize she was still holding, "No. Just a few nasty head wounds. Alex is the hero."

"I'm not a hero," Alex added.

"You are," Arizona retorted to him as she let go of his hand in order to wrap her arm around his shoulders. "He saved my life," Arizona told the group.

"You don't have to be so dramatic, Zo," Alex said trying to lighten the mood that had suddenly turned somber. Both he and Arizona knew how close they had come to dying but he didn't really want to get into it that night with their friends. Alex reached out to rest his hand on Arizona's thigh as his mind flooded with images of Arizona being held with a gun to her head. Arizona squeezed his shoulder and gave him a knowing look because she knew exactly what he was thinking about because she was reliving it as well.

"You have really crappy luck to get shot twice in two different hospital shootings," Cristina stated the obvious to the group.

Cristina could always be counted on to lighten the mood of a party. After that, Arizona and Alex were able to steer the conversation toward what had been going on at Seattle Grace – Mercy West. Arizona was pleasantly surprised to hear that Alex's alter-ego and fellow pediatric fellow, Polly, had done a great job at holding down the pediatrics department while they were away. Once the sun went down and everyone moved the party inside the shooting in Malawi didn't come up again. Everyone was happy to see their friends were safe and didn't push for more details. They knew that they would talk when they were ready. It was Bailey that first noticed the signs that Alex and Arizona wanted them gone. Bailey could see the yawns coming from Alex and Arizona as everyone sat on the couches in the living room. She knew they must be exhausted after everything they had been through. She could see how Alex kept glancing at his watch to check the time. If Bailey wouldn't have said anything the guests probably never would have left but she did and they did.

**…**

"I probably shouldn't have gone tonight," Izzie said to Meredith during their drive back to Meredith and Derek's house.

"Told you it was a bad idea," Derek interrupted the ladies' discussion from the driver's seat.

"Ignore him," Meredith said as she shot Derek a look. "You needed to see that Alex was okay."

"He didn't say anything to me," Izzie mumbled to herself.

Meredith gave her friend a sad look and tried to justify Alex's cold reception of his ex-wife, "He was just surprised. Plus he'd just been shot so he's not himself right now."

"What's with him and Dr. Robbins? They seem abnormally close. You didn't tell me that they were that close," Izzie asked. She had spent the night watching Alex and his interactions with Arizona. She noticed the way they both kept reaching out to each other. They rarely separated. They sat next to each other outside and inside. They finished each other's sentences. They seemed to talk to each other with looks and not needing to use words. They seemed to be inseparable.

"Arizona's his person," Meredith said as if that explained it all. "She has been for over a year and a half now."

"It seems like an odd pairing. She's so…so happy and Alex isn't."

Meredith laughed, "You mean she's happy like you? You and Alex worked, didn't you? At least for awhile."

"Yeah, but we were having sex. You don't think they're sleeping together do you?" Izzie jumped to conclusions

Meredith laughed even harder at that comment. "They're just friends, Iz. Not like it matters to you. You're the one that divorced him. You really hurt him. You better not be here to hurt him again. Because even though you're my friend, I'm on Team Alex on this one. Like he said the last time you came back, he does deserve better. "

"I know that," Izzie sneered not wanting to be reminded of how she treated Alex toward the end of their relationship. "I just want to talk to him."

"He'll be back to work soon. He'll talk to you then once he gets over the shock of you being here. Plus, your case will involve Pediatrics so he'll have to work with you."

"Right," Izzie nodded as she continued to stare out the window. She wasn't sure what she wanted from Alex. She had always regretted her decision to end her marriage without fighting for it. She was just so hurt and felt so betrayed by Alex that she had to get away but after a couple of years she was able to think back on their marriage with a more rational eye and wondered if maybe they could get back to where they were. Of course getting back to where they were would take Alex actually speaking to her. She decided as she looked out at the stars that she wouldn't leave Seattle without attempting to win Alex back.

**…**

After their guests left, Arizona and Alex headed straight for their respective bedrooms. They were both pleasantly surprised that they had been able to act like their normal selves around their friends. They were able to physically comfort each other without any second guessing while everyone was visiting. But as soon as everyone left and the front door was locked, they both felt an awkward air fill the house. So after a quick goodnight they both retreated to their rooms.

Alex and Arizona both laid in bed thinking about the other. They both spent hours thinking about how they spent the night before and how lonely it was in bed without the other. After hours of tossing and turning Alex eventually gave up and went back downstairs. They had left the mess of their friends' visit to clean up in the morning but Alex figured it was better to be productive than to lay in bed all night. He had just finished collecting all of the beer cans and bottles to put into the recycling when he heard screaming coming from upstairs. Alex immediately threw everything into the bin and raced upstairs to Arizona's room. He knocked lightly before entering. He didn't want to startle her if she was awake. When he opened the door the light from the hallway showed Arizona's sleeping form thrashing about the bed. Alex didn't hesitate as he crawled into Arizona's bed and pulled her into his arms. Arizona immediately stopped thrashing when Alex wrapped his arms around her.

"Shhh, I'm here," he whispered into her hair as he placed a kiss on the top of her head. "It's okay. I'm here."

After a few moments, Arizona stopped whimpering and she curled even closer into Alex's arms. When he felt Arizona's grip on his t-shirt relax he knew that her nightmare was over and she had fallen into a more peaceful sleep. He stayed awake awhile longer to make sure that she continued to sleep peacefully before trying to roll out of bed to let her sleep. Plus, he wasn't sure that sleeping in the same bed again was a great idea – it wasn't going to help him trying to get over his crush on the sleeping beauty. But Arizona's hand gripped his shirt tighter every time he tried to move. Alex acquiesced that he was needed right where he was and if Arizona needed him to keep the bad dreams away then he would be there every night no matter how much it hurt his heart.

**…**


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I'm glad that everyone enjoyed the return of Izzie. Let's see what trouble she can cause with her return. I've been sick so I might not be able to get two chapters out next week but I'll try my best. Also if this chapter seems off, I blame the Nyquil. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona and Alex were given a few days off before they had to return to Seattle Grace – Mercy West. Owen had told them to take the time to rest and recuperate. That was easier said than done when every time Arizona closed her eyes she was transported back to Malawi with a gun to her head. It didn't help that their presence was also strongly encouraged by the U.S. government to be at a meeting with Malawian officials who wanted them to go over the events one more time. The officials weren't the only ones wanting to hear their story. Somehow their contact information had been leaked to the media and both of their phones were blowing up with calls from every media outlet possible. After much debate, Alex and Arizona agreed to give one interview and it would be a print interview only – no television. They claimed that it was just because they didn't have time to set up a television interview but truthfully Arizona didn't think she could maintain a strong demeanor for an entire on-camera interview. They invited the journalist into their home so that they would at least be in a comfortable environment. He arrived with a tape recorder, notepad and a photographer. Three hours later, Arizona closed the door behind the two men and hoped that that was the last time she would be expected to tell their story. Every time she had to tell the story it only allowed her dreams to get more vivid. Their few days off from work ended up being anything but restful. They were both more than happy to get back to work and lose themselves in the medicine.

**…**

"You look like death," Cristina remarked as she came up behind Alex in line at the coffee cart.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," Alex sneered. He knew it was the truth though. He hadn't been sleeping much since that day in Malawi. They had only been back for four nights and every night Alex woke up to the sound of Arizona screaming from her bedroom. He didn't know why he just didn't start his night sleeping in Arizona's bed because that is where he always ended up when he would hear her in the middle of a nightmare.

"You talk to Izzie yet?" Cristina asked as Alex placed his order.

"Nope. Don't plan to either."

"You do know that she's here for a peds case, don't you?"

Alex's head spun around. It was his first day back at work since returning to Africa so he hadn't had time to hear any gossip yet. "What?"

"Yeah, she's a neonatal fellow in Portland now. Got some baby that's going to need heart surgery as soon as it is born. They were waiting for Robbins to get back before inducing," Cristina explained as Alex gulped his coffee.

"F me," Alex muttered as he walked off leaving Cristina smiling in his wake. Cristina knew that there was bound to be drama with Alex and Izzie having to work together again and she couldn't wait for the show.

**…**

"Please tell me that you're not going to put me on this Portland case," Alex asked his mentor when he finally tracked her down that morning in her office.

"What?" Arizona asked. She was confused about what Alex was talking about. She had been up to her ears in a backlog of paperwork that Owen needed immediately so she hadn't had time to get caught up on what was going on in her department just yet.

"Izzie is here with some woman who is thirty-seven weeks pregnant with a baby that will need heart surgery as soon as she's born," Alex huffed as he sat down in one of the chairs across from Arizona's desk. "Put Polly on it. I can't work with her."

"Maybe working with her would be a good idea?" Arizona suggested as she finally glanced away from her computer to see Alex fidgeting with his fingers.

"How?" Alex grumbled to his boss.

Arizona sighed and softened toward the man, "You obviously still have Izzie issues. Maybe if you had to work with her then you would work on the issues as well."

"No," Alex pouted.

"Well, Polly is on vacation this week. A bit of a treat for taking care of things while we were gone so by default you're stuck."

"Arizona," Alex whined hoping that the puppy dog eyes would work on her.

Arizona stood up and moved to sit in the chair next to him. "Alex, if I had another option I would but you're all I have this week. So you'll just have to ignore her. Or better yet, talk to her and get your issues out on the table."

Alex knew that he was going to have to work with Izzie but he also saw this as an opportunity to get something that he wanted from Arizona. "If I talk to her, then will you talk to someone about everything we just went through," Alex suggested. He knew Arizona would resist but she really needed to talk to a professional about her nightmares. It was the first time either one of them referenced her nightmares. Alex would always slip out of Arizona's bed as the sun rose so that they wouldn't have to talk about it when they woke up in the same bed together. Both of them knew that he had spent the night there but after their night of passion they had gotten good at avoiding the real issues.

Arizona broke eye contact with Alex and looked down at her hands. She hated that she was having nightmares. She felt so weak that she was still so affected by the situation and she wasn't even the one that had been hurt. She thought that if she just tried to forget that it would go away but it wasn't and she knew that Alex was right. Plus, she really wanted Alex to get things out on the table with Izzie. Arizona was jealous of Izzie and what she had with Alex but that didn't mean that she wanted Alex to suffer for it. Alex needed closure even if it meant having to talk to his ex-wife. "Fine," Arizona said softly. "But that means you have to talk to Izzie now."

"Fine," Alex muttered as he left Arizona's office. He really didn't want to deal with Izzie but if he was going to have to work with her, and apparently he was, he wanted to get it over with.

Arizona sighed as she returned to her desk after Alex left. Staring at all of the paperwork she needed to do made her eyes glaze over. The lack of sleep because of the nightmares was starting to affect her. She had been napping on the couch at home as a way of getting her shut eye but now that they were back to work she couldn't take a mid-day nap anymore. She was exhausted and now she had to talk to a shrink. Only Alex could convince her to talk to a therapist. She had spent most of her career making fun of therapists and psychologists; they go through all of med school just to sit in a chair and listen to people talk all day. But she figured it couldn't hurt to talk to someone and it would make Alex happy so she would do it. It wasn't just visions of Anton that kept her up at night; those were the worst but she was also kept up at night thinking about Alex. She couldn't stop thinking about their mistake. It wasn't that Arizona didn't enjoy it; the problem was that she enjoyed it too much. Arizona knew she needed to do something to get Alex off of her mind. She smiled to herself as she brought up her e-mail and quickly composed an e-mail to her trusty lesbian circle of friends.

"There," Arizona smiled as she hit the send button. "A night out with the girls at The Wild Rose is just what I need. Focus on the boobs, Robbins."

**…**

Begrudgingly Alex met Izzie for lunch. Izzie had been shocked when Alex tracked her down and invited her to talk over lunch. After the way he ignored her when she was at his place the other day she figured Alex would be ignoring her for the duration of her stay in Seattle. Alex felt like lunch was a safe option for meeting his ex. The cafeteria would be crowded so that neither of them could make a scene and if he needed time to think about what to say he could just put a bite of food in his mouth and chew for a really long time. He also bribed his favorite nurse with instructions to page him during the meal and if the lunch was going badly then he could pretend that it was an emergency page and leave and if the lunch was okay then he could ignore it. 'Another reason to not get involved with someone at work, Alex. When things go bad, you still have to see them,' he thought to himself as he was trying to give himself reasons to fight his feelings about Arizona.

He was already seated with his lunch when Izzie showed up and sat down across from him.

"Hey," Izzie smiled as she placed her tray on the table.

"Hey," Alex replied as he looked up from his hamburger.

"I'm sorry for just showing up at your house the other day," Izzie apologized. "I should have given you some warning that I was going to be here."

"Some warning would have been nice. How long are you here for?"

Izzie twirled her fork in her salad, "I'm not sure. The mom wants to get the baby full-term which is another three weeks. We have to be here because this is the closest level four NICU. How are things here in Seattle?"

Alex got annoyed with Izzie attempting to make small talk and decided to just put everything out on the table. Small talk would get them nowhere. "Look, we could sit here and talk about nothing for the next twenty minutes or we could just talk about what it is you want to talk about."

"I don't know what it is I want to talk about Alex," Izzie said honestly. She really didn't know what she wanted from Alex. They had been divorced for two years. They both had completely different lives. She knew that she wanted him back but she didn't want to jump right into that during their first conversation in years. "When I heard about Africa, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Why now?" Alex asked honestly. "You didn't need to make sure I was okay after the shooting here? The one where I really did almost die."

"But I did. I talked to Meredith. Meredith and I e-mail at least once a week so I knew that you were okay."

"Well as you can see I am perfectly okay," Alex said as he gestured to his body with his hands.

"I'm glad. Can we just be friends?" Izzie asked earnestly as Alex's pager buzzed on his hip.

"I don't know, Iz," Alex said as he glanced at his fake page. His fake page came right in time. Izzie was giving him her best sad face when she asked to be friends and if he didn't get away then he knew he might break and actually agree to be friends with her. "I have to go. I'll see you around."

**…**

After returning from Africa, nothing about Alex and Arizona's life went back to the way it was before. For Alex, his ex-wife had shown up out of the blue and was trying to re-integrate herself with their group of friends. For Arizona, she was having an identity crisis. For her entire adult life she identified herself as a lesbian. It wasn't her only defining characteristic though. If asked to talk about herself she wouldn't even tell people she was a lesbian. People don't go around announcing they are straight so she didn't see why she should announce that she is gay; she would instead choose to focus on the fact that she is a top-rated pediatric surgeon, a Carter-Madison grant winner, a daughter, a sister and a really great friend. But just because being a lesbian wasn't a defining part of her life it was still a pretty big one. Her developing feelings for Alex were causing her to rethink who she was as a person.

Alex and Arizona both threw themselves back into their work after their return. They both said it was because they were catching up on a week in Africa but they were both doing it for other reasons –to avoid thinking about what happened in Africa both with the rebels and with each other.

At night instead of hanging out with each other, Arizona spent every night out with her group of lesbian friends. They were her first real friends when she arrived in Seattle for her fellowship. She started meeting up every night with them at one of the lesbian and gay bars in Seattle and spend the night drinking and flirting. Arizona had forgotten how much fun it was to go out with them. For most of the last two years she had spent most of her time with Alex and the hospital crowd. She'd only go out with the girls when they'd send her threatening e-mails asking if she was even still alive which ended up being only once a month or so. Her friends weren't sure what sparked the reappearance of Arizona into their social circle but they were happy to have her back. She told them her sudden reappearance was because she needed to catch up with them when in reality it was to help remind herself of that part of who she was and remind herself of her feelings for girls as her feelings for Alex threatened to take over. Those Alex feelings needed to be pushed deep down inside of her and if pretty girls could help her do that then that was what she was going to do.

With Arizona out with the girls, Alex found himself spending time with the old gang. Many nights he'd find himself at Joe's with Cristina, Meredith, Lexie and Izzie. Over the week he had become friendlier with Izzie. He was still wary of letting her in too close to his heart but he didn't feel the need to avoid her outright. He wouldn't initiate conversations but he didn't shut them down like he did at their lunch in the cafeteria. As he spent more time talking to Izzie he was reminded of the Izzie that he first met when they were interns who slowly made him forget the Izzie that divorced him.

The only problem was that even apart Arizona and Alex couldn't keep their minds off of each other. Arizona tried valiantly to find an interesting girl to spend her nights with. She always had pretty women offering to buy her drinks at the bar but she never felt any connection with them. She'd try though. She gave it her best effort. She'd dance with them and feel the softness of their skin. She'd even make out drunkenly on the dance floor with them. But once the music stopped and it was time to go home, Arizona didn't want to be with any of those girls. She didn't want to crawl into bed with them. She wanted to crawl back into bed with Alex. So she left them at the clubs. She turned down invitations to go back to their place and rebuffed the more outgoing advances that suggestion that she bring them back home with her. She always went home alone.

All Alex could do while he was out with his friends was worry about Arizona. He knew that when she started going out with her lesbian circle that she was scared. Part of him in knowing that Arizona was throwing herself back into the gay scene made him happy because he knew that she wouldn't be doing that if she didn't feel something for him. He realized that he scared her. The other part of him was angry at the fact that she was going back to the lesbian circle because he knew exactly what Arizona was doing – throwing herself at random women. Just the thought of someone else's hands on Arizona's body made him angry. He hated thinking about Arizona making out with a random girl in a club. He wanted to be that person.

At the end of the day, even as they attempted to separate their social lives, every night Alex and Arizona ended up in the same bed with Alex helping to keep Arizona's nightmares at bay. What Alex didn't know was that Arizona's nightmares, with some helpful tips from her therapist, had all but gone away.

**…**

Three weeks after Alex and Arizona returned from Africa, Izzie's patient had finally reached full-term. Even though Arizona had long offered to replace Alex with Polly on the case, Alex decided that working with Izzie wouldn't be that bad; plus the mother had gotten to know him and he didn't want her to have to get comfortable with another doctor. Finally the day had come that they had been planning for for weeks. Izzie would perform a c-section on the mother and then Arizona, Alex and Teddy would perform the heart surgery the baby girl needed to survive outside of her mother's womb.

Six hours after the baby was born, Izzie and Alex were able to deliver good news to her mother – she would be okay. It was a wonderful moment for the family and for Izzie. This had been her first solo case as a neonatal fellow and it had been successful. The only thing that would make her day better was some time with Alex. She'd be on her way back to Portland the next day and she had still yet to get what she wanted – Alex. Sure they'd forged a friendship but she wanted more than just friendship from her ex.

"Good day," Izzie smiled as they walked out of the NICU after checking on the baby one last time for the night.

"Yeah," Alex agreed. It had been a good day. Everything went smoothly and he got to help a baby get the chance to live.

"You want to go to Joe's tonight?" Izzie asked innocently. She had talked to Meredith earlier in the day and convinced her to keep the rest of their friends out of Joe's that night. She wanted some alone time with Alex. It wasn't her fault if Alex would assume that everyone else was going to be there.

Alex paused to think. He briefly wondered what Arizona was doing that night but he assumed it would be the same as most nights – either staying and working late or out with her other friends. Lately the only time they hung out with each other besides at home was their weekly trivia dates. Even with the awkward phase their relationship was in they'd never skip trivia. "Okay," he decided to go. He knew that Izzie was leaving the next day so this would be the last time he'd have to see her for awhile and it wouldn't kill him to hang out with her one more time.

**…**

Alex was surprised when he and Izzie walked into Joe's that night than none of their other friends were there. He assumed that everyone would be out to say goodbye for Izzie's last night in Seattle. Izzie just brushed off his concerns and told him they all must be busy and that she was staying with Meredith so she'd be able to say goodbye to her in the morning.

They grabbed a table at the back of the bar and ordered some food. Alex was content to relax after a successful day at work. Like they had for the last few weeks they kept the conversation light. They never talked about their relationship or any relationships they had been in since the other. They mainly talked about work or about old times – times before George O'Malley died, before cancer and before the hospital merger that ended up separating them.

"God I miss this," Izzie laughed into her drink as Alex finished telling Izzie about the day that Cristina Yang forgot how to do an appendectomy.

Alex finished his beer and grabbed the spare he had waiting for him. "Miss what? Stale beer?"

"This," Izzie shrugged her shoulders. "Laughing after a long day of work with friends."

"Not like this in Portland?"

"No, people stick to themselves at my hospital. Work and go home is their philosophy," Izzie answered before staring off into space for a moment. "We were really lucky here. To make a family out of coworkers is rare. I took it for granted," Izzie reached out and touched Alex's hand across the table.

Alex felt weird when Izzie touched him. It felt natural like she had been doing it for years. His brain was fogged with beer and it took him a moment to realize that she _should _have been doing that for years but she broke his heart. Once he made that realization he pulled his hand away like she was poisonous.

Izzie frowned when Alex pulled his hand away from her but wasn't going to let that stop her from her goal of getting Alex back in her life. She knew that Alex would want to go home soon so she was running out of time.

"So you seeing anyone?" Izzie asked trying to steer the conversation to a more romantic road. Meredith had told her that she didn't think he was dating anyone but with Alex it was hard to tell since he rarely spoke about his love life.

"Uhh… no," Alex was caught off guard by the question. He wanted to say yes. He wished that he could say yes. His heart was one hundred percent with the woman that he slept with every night but their sleepovers never went any further than spooning and he still escaped before she woke up in the morning so that they could continue to avoid their feelings for each other.

"How is that possible? Good looking guy like you should have girls left and right. Maybe if you didn't hang out with Arizona all the time…" Izzie said trying to make Alex laugh as he turned serious after she asked him about his dating situation.

"My being single has nothing to do with Arizona," Alex snapped at her even though Arizona had everything to do with his being single.

Izzie quickly realized she hit a nerve with mentioning Arizona. She wondered just why Alex was so loyal to her. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. Making Alex mad wasn't going to help her get into his pants. "I just didn't expect you to be single when I came back. Not that it wasn't a welcome surprise. Just that it was a surprise."

"Well ever since my wife divorced me, I haven't been too interested in relationships," Alex told her honestly. Izzie opened herself up to the relationship talk. Alex was more than happy to avoid the subject with her but she started it and he wasn't going to hold back.

"Alex," Izzie sighed. "I'm sorry. I had cancer. I lost my job," she started to list excuses for her behavior.

"And I stood by you through all of that. I held your hand through chemo. I helped shave your freaking head and held you while you puked and you left me."

Izzie decided to just put it out there. Alex was getting defensive and angry so she didn't have anything else to lose. "I think we could be really great together. If you gave us another chance."

Alex had to laugh out loud when Izzie asked for another chance, "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously."

Alex couldn't believe that she was really serious. "Forgetting the fact that you left me via a Dear John letter and then sent me divorce papers. Forgetting the fact that we signed those divorced papers. Forgetting all of that, you live in Portland. I live in Seattle. Even on a day with no traffic that's still a three hour drive and we both know that it is usually at least four to five hours because of traffic."

"We could make it work. Make our schedules match so we have the same days off and I could come up here all the time," Izzie reasoned. "We were so good together. Don't you remember Alex?"

Alex did remember. He had spent much of the last three weeks remembering his relationship with Izzie. It was hard not to remember when he had to work with her daily. He remembered that she was the first girl to really make him happy. She was the first girl to see past his brash exterior and realize that there was a good guy hiding inside.

Izzie watched as Alex got silent after she asked Alex to remember. She watched as he played with his beer bottle wrapper – something he always did when he was thinking. She was happy he was even thinking about it. She honestly didn't know what Alex's reaction was going to be. Izzie took advantage of Alex's contemplative state by leaning over, caressing his cheek and pulling him in for a kiss.

He didn't see it coming. If he did see it coming he probably would have ducked out of the way so that their lips didn't meet. Alex instinctively kissed her back like his body was on autopilot. But he quickly realized that he wasn't kissing the person he wanted to be kissing and he pushed Izzie off of him.

"Stop, Iz," Alex ordered as he wiped all traces of Izzie off of his lips. He hated the fact that now Arizona was no longer the last person that he had kissed. When Izzie didn't stop and tried to kiss him again he stepped back and away from the table and started to leave.

"Wait… Alex!" Izzie called after him as she maneuvered to stop him from leaving the bar.

Alex didn't want a loud argument in the middle of a bar. He just wanted to go home and be with Arizona. Even if their time spent together was strained these days she was still the person he wanted to be around the most. "Look Izzie, when we were good we were good. But we're not good anymore. You deserve someone who can make you happy. Take care in Portland, okay?"

Izzie gave Alex a smile and pulled him in for a hug. "You deserve someone who can make you happy too," she whispered into his ear before she let him go and watched him walk out of Joe's. Izzie didn't want to argue with Alex over how they could be great together. She didn't want to push him away further so she gave him what he wanted as Alex left. Izzie was annoyed and hurt by the rejection but she still had hope that things could eventually work out between them. She wasn't going to give up just yet.

**…**

Arizona was in a great mood. She had had a great day. It all started with a morning therapy session. Weeks ago when Alex asked her to seek out help, she begrudgingly called and set up an appointment. Her first session the therapist had to pull the words out of her. Arizona wasn't a person who let people in. There were only three people that she had let in to know the true Arizona in recent years – Callie, Teddy and Alex. As the sessions went on she started opening up more and more and found them really helpful. One part of being raised in a military family was being treated like a Marine by her father. And one thing that Marines don't do is show any type of emotion. As a child this was engrained in her from a very young age. If she had a bad soccer practice and was angry she was punished for verbalizing her anger. If she was upset because they were moving again and she showed tears she was told to suck it up. As time wore on, she learned to hide what she was feeling and only did those closest to her get to see it. Her therapy sessions had moved on from her trauma in Malawi and were now focused on her feelings for Alex. In her therapy session that morning her therapist made her realize that she was doing what she had always done with her feelings, she was hiding them. While she wasn't going to go out and tell Alex that she loved him that day, she felt that she was getting closer to being able to take that step.

After a great therapy session Arizona always felt better. It always felt like a weight was being lifted off of her chest. And to go from a great therapy session to saving a newborn's life was amazing. She was in such a good mood that when Teddy asked her to go to Joe's for drinks to celebrate their great surgery she agreed instead of making up an excuse to stay and work late like she normally would do. Since they had come back from Malawi, Teddy had been reaching out to Arizona to spend more time together but Arizona kept rebuffing her. Arizona desperately wanted to talk to Teddy and tell her about Alex but was afraid of the reaction she would get, so instead Arizona had been avoiding putting herself in a situation where she and Teddy would be alone together.

Arizona immediately noticed Alex and Izzie when she and Teddy walked into Joe's. She saw them laughing together as they sat at a table in the back corner. The green-eyed-monster immediately flared within her. She wanted to go pull Izzie off of her bar stool and kick her out of Joe's but she held back, instead choosing a table out of the way so that she wouldn't have to watch them together. She didn't want to ruin her night with Teddy by spending the night being jealous of Izzie.

After a couple of drinks, Arizona had almost forgotten that Alex was out with another girl in the same space as her. She was having a great night with Teddy. They were both able to catch each other up with their personal lives. Arizona was happy to learn that Teddy was finally dating again after Henry's death. Arizona shared stories about the girls she was meeting in the gay bars. When Teddy was lamenting about how long it had been since she had sex, Arizona almost let it slip about her time with Alex but instead managed to fake her way through the conversation, commiserating that it had been a long time for her too.

It was when she and Teddy moved to play darts that Arizona saw it. Teddy was looking the opposite direction but Arizona couldn't miss it. Izzie's lips all over Alex's. _Her Alex_. Arizona was livid. She couldn't believe it. For the three weeks that Izzie had been in Seattle she never once thought that Alex would hook up with her again. She wanted to smack not only Izzie but Alex as well. She wanted to remind him of everything he'd ever said about Izzie. She could tell that Izzie had wanted him back but she never thought that he would go for it. She was disgusted that he kissed her.

Arizona quickly made an excuse to Teddy after seeing them kiss. She couldn't be in the same place as them any longer. She didn't want to witness the happy couple making out the rest of the night. She held up her pager to Teddy as if that explained it all and then ran out of the bar. Teddy stood in Joe's confused as she watched the blonde rush out of the bar. She thought that they were having a good time. Arizona was laughing and smiling which was something that she hadn't been doing at work lately. Teddy knew that Arizona hadn't really been paged. There was no way Arizona would have been drinking if she was on-call. After her companion left, Teddy had nothing left to do but leave herself. As she made her way out she witnessed a heated moment between Alex and Izzie. She watched as Izzie tried to kiss Alex but she saw Alex push the blonde off of him. Teddy internally wondered if maybe Alex and Izzie had anything to do with why Arizona left the bar running. After all, Arizona and Alex who had always been inseparable were now spending their nights with other people. Teddy left the bar wondering just what happened in Africa between Alex and Arizona.

**…**

Arizona made it all the way back to her office in the hospital before she fell apart in tears. The feeling in her chest at seeing Alex kiss another woman all but confirmed the feelings she had been questioning for weeks.

After pushing Izzie off of his body and saying goodbye, Alex left Joe's hoping to find Arizona at home. He wanted to kiss her again so that she would be the last person that he kissed but he knew he couldn't do that. They were just getting back to where they were able to sit on the same couch without things being awkward and he didn't want to ruin that with a kiss. Instead, he just wanted a night on the couch with Arizona while they made fun of whatever reality show was on television. He stayed up until two in the morning when he realized that Arizona wasn't coming home that night. It was the first night in over three weeks that he fell asleep in his own bed. He fell asleep with his arms wrapped around a pillow wishing it was Arizona instead.

**…**


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and well wishes. I'm feeling better so I wanted to get a chapter out before the holiday madness really took over my life. I made this extra long for a nice holiday treat. I hope y'all enjoy. Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Holidays!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

When Alex woke up in the morning he was worried. He wasn't used to waking up in his own bed. He immediately peeked his head into Arizona's room to see if she came home the night before but her bed hadn't been slept in. It was unlike Arizona to just not come home. He knew her work schedule and she wasn't on-call so she shouldn't have been there. His mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that she must have spent the night with a woman. At that thought his heart sank. While he was pushing his ex-wife off of him because he couldn't stop thinking about Arizona, Arizona was out picking up a random woman at a bar.

Alex was more than disgruntled when he got to work. He couldn't stop thinking about some slutty woman having her hands all over Arizona's body. Arizona was just as disgruntled when she woke up on her office couch the next morning. She barely slept the night before but instead of seeing a shooter in her dreams she saw Izzie with her lips all over Alex's. The pair managed to avoid seeing each other all morning. Arizona had budget meetings and Alex had scheduled surgeries. But when a car accident involving a minivan and a truck sent three kids into the emergency room, they were forced to work together; each holding a grudge against the other unknowingly.

Arizona watched as Alex helped to triage the patients. Over the years he had learned to be friendly to the kids as he treated them. He was never going to be as cheery and perky as Arizona but he had learned that working in pediatrics meant a certain amount of cheer was required even if it was faked. That day Alex had no niceness in his bedside manner – not even fake. He had no gentleness in his touch as he took care of his patient and when he explained the boy's injuries to the parents he just gave them a drive-by spiel and handed them the papers; he left the parents with no real idea of how to treat their son's cuts and abrasions at home.

After finishing the treatment on her patients and discharging them home, Arizona caught up to Alex who was walking away from her in a hurry. She came up behind him, grabbed his arm and dragged him into her office.

"What the hell was that?" Alex asked as he rubbed the arm that Arizona had used to throw him into the room just a little too roughly.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Karev?" Arizona yelled with her hands on her hips. She had no idea what had happened with Alex but obviously something wasn't right with him that day. "I know I trained you better than that. Be an asshole to everyone you want to in your life but you know better than to be an asshole to these kids and their parents. So what gives?"

"Not everyone is overly happy all the time like you," Alex said with his arms crossed against his chest.

Arizona softened, "You of all people know that I'm not happy all the time. But for the patients we have to at least try. They come in here and are scared to death and you with your brash attitude doesn't help things. If you can't at least try the rest of your shift I've got a stack of paperwork you can do for me, okay?"

Alex rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to be stuck doing paperwork. "Fine. I'll try."

"I mean it. I'm going home now so I'm not going to be here to babysit you. Can I trust you to not be an asshole to my kids?"

"Wait," Alex paused and shifted the conversation. He was confused about what Arizona had just said, "Why are you going home at two in the afternoon?"

"I'm exhausted, Karev," Arizona sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "I've been pulling long days since we got back from Africa so I'm going to take advantage of a slow day and go home."

"Maybe you wouldn't be so tired if you weren't sleeping in some random girl's bed last night," Alex snarked under his breath.

Arizona's eyes shot up to meet his. She couldn't believe he was accusing her of being a slut when she saw his lips all over his ex-wife's the night before. "Wow, one night with Izzie turned you right back into the asshole you used to be, didn't it? Not that it's any of your business but I was here last night. I slept on my office couch."

It was Alex's turn to be confused, "I wasn't with Izzie last night."

Arizona raised her eyebrows, "I saw you with her at Joe's."

"I mean, yeah we went to Joe's but after she tried to force her tongue down my throat I got the hell out of there as fast as I could," Alex explained. "Why'd you stay at the hospital all night? I didn't think you were on-call."

Arizona let out a long sigh. She was relieved to hear that what she saw at Joe's was only one-sided. For the first time that day a small smile graced her face. "Oh, I got a page that I needed to take. Then I was too tired to be bothered with going home," she lied.

"Lot of good that did you," Alex said as he caressed her cheek and pulled her in for a comforting hug. She really did look tired. "Doesn't look like you slept that much here. Nightmares?"

Arizona was surprised that Alex mentioned the nightmares. They never talked about them. They avoided talking about them. They avoided talking about everything that happened that day in Malawi. "No nightmares," Arizona shook her head. She wanted to tell him that she couldn't sleep because she kept seeing him kissing Izzie or the fact that she's gotten so used to sleeping next to him that it's difficult to sleep without him now. "Just a very uncomfortable couch," she continued to lie to her best friend.

Alex looked down on a very tired Arizona who had made herself comfortable in his arms. "Go home and nap. I'll cover for you here. You want me to bring home dinner?"

Arizona looked up and smiled, "That'd be great."

They remained entwined in a hug for a few more minutes. Neither one wanting to separate. They had spent most of the last three weeks walking on eggshells around each other that they were enjoying the comfort they found in each other.

"I should go," Arizona whispered as she started to pull out of Alex's arms.

Alex nodded, "Yeah."

Alex let out a loud grunt after Arizona left. He was so frustrated. He hated being that close to Arizona but not able to actually be with her. He had been so close to kissing her when they were hugging. When he looked down at her in his arms, he was so close to leaning down and capturing her lips but something stopped him. He couldn't put his heart out there only to have it crushed. If Arizona wasn't receptive to his advances then he'd lose his best friend. He learned a long time ago that Arizona Robbins was a very special woman and he needed her in his life even if it was just as friends – even if it meant ignoring his heart.

**…**

After that day in Arizona's office, when they both realized they came to the wrong conclusions about each other, Alex and Arizona were able to go back to being almost as they were before they slept together. Arizona had stopped spending so much time with her lesbian circle of friends as she realized that hanging out at gay bars wasn't helping at all. Hooking up with random girls wasn't making her forget Alex instead it was making her just wish it was Alex that she was kissing. Arizona decided she needed a different type of distraction. She needed something to focus on that wasn't the way Alex looked when he got out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist. She decided to tackle a challenge that she had wanted to do forever but was always too busy for it. But now that she had sworn off dating, she more than had the time for it. After paying way too much money just to torture herself it was official – she was an entrant in the Seattle Ironman Triathlon. She had six months to train to be able to complete a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run with a seventeen hour deadline. She'd run plenty of marathons so the running didn't bother her but she'd only ever swam and cycled for fun and not for competition.

Arizona created a training plan and soon spent at least two hours a day in training. Alex told her she was crazy when she'd wake up at four in the morning to get to the pool for a two hour swim session before work. He told her she was really crazy when she decided that she was no longer driving anywhere – instead she was cycling to work and back; something which Alex said was impractical in perpetually rainy Seattle. But for Arizona her crazy training plan was working. Not only was she in the best shape of her life but she was also not spending all of her time thinking about Alex – now she was only thinking about Alex twelve hours a day instead of all twenty-four.

While Arizona threw herself into triathlon training, Alex threw himself into work. As part of his fellowship he was required to spend a good portion of his time in research. He was expected to have several publications by the time his fellowship was over. He had been blowing that part of the fellowship off because it was boring; he would much rather be in the operating room getting to save lives than spending hours in the research library in front of a computer. But spending time in the research library was a great way to stop thinking about Arizona. As he spent more time researching infant mortality rates and surgical interventions in Africa, he spent less time remembering the feel of Arizona's skin against his lips.

Finding hobbies to distract themselves from each other was a positive step in helping them to move past their night together but it didn't stop the occasional impure thoughts from raiding their minds. While they could keep themselves busy during the day, at night when they fell asleep and when the subconscious took over their thoughts always drifted to each other. The sexual frustration was they were experiencing was the worst. Neither one wanted to turn to another person to help relieve the frustration so they were left to have to take care of themselves. While they both had copious experience in taking care of their own sexual needs, it wasn't quite enough to relieve their desires.

**…**

When Alex awoke with a start one morning in late October, he expected to find Arizona in the kitchen ready to bark at him for waiting until the last minute to get up and about how they were going to be late for work. Instead he found a note about how she went in for an early workout and a reminder to take the chicken out of the freezer to defrost for dinner. Alex sighed as he pulled the chicken out and placed it in the fridge. He knew what Arizona was doing. She was running off her feelings. They were due to return to Malawi in two weeks and Arizona was anxious about it. The director of the Carter – Madison program had given the pair an out and told them that they didn't have to return if they didn't want to. He knew that they went through hell during the hostage situation and that returning to Malawi would be hard for them. While Arizona was scared to enter the same hospital where she almost died, she was not going to quit. If her father taught her one thing it was to see a commitment through. She made a commitment to the children of Malawi and she was going to honor her commitment. She owed it to the kids. Arizona was using her triathlon training as a way to get rid of some of her excess nerves about the return to Malawi. Alex was sleepily making himself a cup of coffee and making a mental note to harass Arizona yet again about her crazy workout schedule when the doorbell rang. As he made his way from the kitchen to the front door he wondered just who in the world would be at the door at six in the morning. Alex's mouth hung open when he looked through the peephole and saw who was there.

"Amber? What are you doing here?" Alex asked as he opened the door to find his sister standing on his doorstep with a toddler in her arms.

Amber shifted the toddler awkwardly in her arms. She didn't know what to expect when she showed up on her big brother's doorstep. "Hey Alex," she greeted him. Alex didn't say anything for a moment so Amber spoke up again, "Aren't you going to let us in? It's a little chilly out."

Alex opened the door wider and gestured for his guests to enter. "Uh…" Alex stuttered as he stared at the tiny girl in his sister's arms. "Who is this?" he asked gesturing to the baby. She looked just like Amber. Alex knew who she must be but needed to hear his sister say it.

"She's your niece, Lily. She's eighteen months old."

Alex was disappointed in his sister. He thought she was smarter than that. He thought he taught her better when it came to boys, sex and condoms. He was disappointed but he tried not to show it. He needed to find out why his little sister had showed up at his house at six in the morning on a weekday. She wouldn't just show up without a reason. "What are you doing here, Amber? How did you even get here and how did you even know where I live?"

Lily started to fuss and wiggle in her mother's arms. "I will explain everything. Is there someplace I can put her down? She's tired. We've been on a bus for almost two days and she's barely slept."

"Sure," Alex said as he led them into the living room. He pulled a blanket off of the back of the couch and made a makeshift bed for his niece. "I need to call my boss and let her know I'm going to be late," Alex pointed to the kitchen. "Come in when you've got her settled."

Arizona didn't ask questions when Alex told him that he needed the day off. He claimed that he woke up feeling sick but Arizona could tell that Alex was lying. She always knew when he was telling her a blatant lie – even over the phone. She didn't call him on it because she knew that he wouldn't be lying if he didn't have a good reason for it and she knew she'd find out once she got home anyway.

Alex was pouring himself another cup of coffee when Amber found her way into the kitchen. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water? Juice? I think we might have a doughnut or two around here somewhere."

"Coffee would be great, thanks."

"So Amber, I think you have some explaining to do," Alex told his sister as he poured her coffee.

Amber sighed and nodded. She came to Seattle for a reason so there was no reason to beat around the bush. They went through two more cups of coffee each as Amber told Alex her story. She told him how she went got pregnant by her prom date which caused her to drop out of high school. She fully admitted that she was one big cliché. She told him how she had gotten into trouble with drugs and alcohol but once she got pregnant she straightened up her act and knew that her baby deserved better than a drug addict mother especially since the father wanted nothing to do with his child. She told Alex how she didn't want to turn into their mother. But she was stalling about telling him why she was in Seattle and Alex noticed that she avoided the subject.

Alex confronted her and forced her to answer him. "So why are you here Amber? And how did you even know where to find me?"

"Well, you might want to talk to your HR department. I knew what hospital you worked at so I called and told them there was a family emergency and I needed your contact info. They gave it out no questions asked."

"Okay, so why did you take a bus to Seattle? You could have just called me. My cell phone number hasn't changed in almost ten years."

"I need your help," Amber answered.

Alex nodded. He knew that Amber needed something from him. She wouldn't just come to Seattle because she missed him. They had never been close as siblings due to their age difference and circumstances surrounding their childhood.

"I have a decent job… for someone that doesn't even have a high school diploma. But everything I make allows us to live," Amber explained.

"So you want money?" Alex interrupted.

Amber shook her head no. "Not exactly. It's Lily. She's had bad ear infections her whole life. The doctor told me she needs tubes in her ears but I don't have health insurance and it is considered an elective surgery. It's expensive. And I remembered Aaron telling me that you were able to get his surgery for free. I just thought that since you're a baby doctor that you could help me."

"Amber," Alex sighed. "I don't do tubes in the ears. That's an ear, nose and throat doctor's job."

"So you can't help?" Amber said dejected. She had taken time off of work and spent more money than she could afford to get to Seattle in an attempt to get her daughter the surgery she needed to feel better. Alex was her only hope. She would never be able to afford the surgery by herself.

"I didn't say that. I can ask my boss. It's more than just the surgeon that agrees to do it for free though," Alex explained. "Surgery needs nurses, anesthesiologists and other doctors. I can ask but I can't guarantee that I can make it happen."

Amber jumped off of the stool she was sitting on and wrapped her older brother in a tight hug, "Thank you."

"How about this," Alex said as he pulled out of Amber's hug. She was his own sister but it felt awkward to be that touchy feely with her. "Once Lily wakes up from her nap, we'll go to the hospital and I'll do a quick exam on her. Then I'll talk to some people about the surgery. If they say no, then they'll at least have to say no while looking at her."

Amber agreed and they spent the next hour making awkward conversation and catching up on each other's lives before heading to the hospital.

**…**

Alex knocked softly on Arizona's door. He had checked the surgical board and saw that she didn't have a surgery until after lunch so she should be in her office. He left Amber and Lily to wait in the waiting room. He didn't want to have to use them as his secret weapon unless necessary to get his niece the surgery she needed.

"Come in," Arizona said from the other side of the door.

"Hey," Alex greeted her as he took a seat across from her. Alex didn't even fake being sick. He knew that she knew better when they spoke on the phone; she was just nice enough to let him off.

Arizona looked Alex up and down, "You don't look very sick, Karev."

"Sorry," Alex said sheepishly.

"What's going on?"

"My sister showed up at the house this morning."

"What?" Arizona interrupted. She knew all about Alex's family history and the last she knew Alex hadn't spoken to his sister in almost three years.

"With her kid," Alex added.

"She has a kid?" Arizona interrupted again.

"Yeah. My niece, Lily," Alex smiled as he thought of his niece. In only two hours she successfully wrapped Alex around her little finger. He was a sucker for her chubby little cheeks. "She needs tubes put in her ears. Simple surgery, I know, but Amber can't afford it."

"We'll take care of it," Arizona said without even thinking about it.

Alex looked surprised. "Really?"

Arizona got up to move next to Alex. "Of course, Alex. She's your family. And you've become my family. We'll figure it out. I've got a few favors to call in. Plus like you said, it's a simple surgery."

"Thank you, Arizona," Alex smiled as he reached out to grab Arizona's hand.

"Now, where is this cutie pie niece?" Arizona asked as she pulled Alex up out of his chair. "I'd really like to meet her and her mom."

Alex introduced Arizona to his sister and niece. The blonde immediately became Lily and Amber's newest favorite person in the world. Alex wasn't shocked that the other two Karev's loved Arizona. It was hard not to like her. Lily loved her because Arizona snuck her a piece of chocolate and Amber loved Arizona because she was going to take care of her daughter. After treating everyone to lunch, Arizona sent the Karev family home so that she could work her magic on Owen to get him to pull the funds for Lily's surgery from the pro bono fund.

**…**

Arizona made it home from work just in time for dinner. Alex decided to order pizza and trash the chicken that was originally on the menu once it was decided that Amber and Lily would be staying with them while they took care of Lily's surgery.

"Mmm, pizza," Arizona commented as she walked into her home and saw Alex and her guests already eating.

"Sorry we tried to wait for you," Alex said in between bites.

Arizona sat down at the table next to Lily who was chowing down on her own slice of cheese pizza. "Don't worry about it," Arizona said as she grabbed a slice of pepperoni. "Plus this cutie can't eat after seven so it's good that you didn't wait."

"So you got the surgery scheduled," Alex asked.

"Yep," Arizona nodded. "Sloan's going to do it."

"He's good?" Amber asked suddenly nervous at the thought of her baby undergoing surgery.

"Very good," Arizona answered. "He's the best."

Even after Arizona's reassurance Amber was still nervous. "Alex, will you be there?"

"Um…" Alex stuttered. He didn't know how to answer because he didn't know if he would be in there. There were rules about operating on family though they were often overlooked at Seattle Grace – Mercy West.

"I'll be there," Arizona saved Alex from having to answer. "Alex will be in the waiting room with you. Someone has to take care of you while I take care of Lily," Arizona explained while running her fingers through Lily's dark baby curls.

Alex could sense that Amber was still nervous. "She's the best, Amb. I trust Arizona with my life. She will take great care of Lily."

Amber nodded solemnly still unsure of her daughter having surgery but knew it what was best for her.

Arizona spent the rest of the dinner explaining as best she could to a one and a half year old just what Lily would have happen to her during the surgery. There was a lot of talk about ears, no more ouchies and lots of pudding.

Baby Lily requested that her newfound uncle read her bedtime story that night. Arizona found herself staring as the two Karev's were cuddled on the couch under a blanket reading _Goodnight Moon_. That was what Arizona wanted. That scene on the couch was exactly what Arizona wanted. Ever since the shooting in Malawi, Arizona's biological clock had turned into a ticking time bomb. She wanted a baby and she was tired of waiting for the right person to come along. If she waited for the right person then she could be waiting for years for that to happen. Seeing Alex with a baby falling asleep in his arms made her ovaries physically ache. It took every fiber of her to control her emotions and not pull Alex into her bedroom and try to make a baby with him.

"He's really good with her," Amber whispered as she came up behind Arizona and watched Alex finish the story.

Arizona agreed. "He's really great with kids. All the kids love him at work."

"He'll make a great dad," Amber mentioned.

Arizona sighed. She knew that Alex would make a great dad. Hearing his sister say that did nothing to help her baby fever. "He will," she whispered.

The two stood awkwardly as Lily demanded that Alex read one more time. Alex couldn't say no to her big brown eyes and started reading the book again.

"So how long have you and my brother been together?" Amber asked.

"Oh no," Arizona immediately stopped Amber's train of thought. "We're not together. Just friends. Best friends."

Amber looked at Arizona curiously. She had only spent a few hours with Arizona and her brother together but she sensed there was more there than just friendship. She wasn't going to push though, after all Arizona was doing her a huge favor by getting her daughter's surgery taken care of for free.

Arizona couldn't take any more of watching Alex with Lily so she excused herself to her bedroom. Watching Alex with Lily was undoing a month's worth of training of trying to get over her feelings for him.

**…**

After a night of fitful sleep thanks to dreams of Alex and babies, Arizona was wide awake and ready to help Mark give Lily a reprieve from constant ear infections. While it wasn't a difficult surgery it was still a life changing one. Ear infections are incredibly painful for babies and Lily had been dealing with them her whole life. A simple two hour procedure would hopefully give her freedom from the pain. Arizona and Lily said goodbye to Alex and Amber and left them in the waiting room. While most times parents were allowed to stay with their kids until they are taken to the operating room, Amber was incredibly nervous and Alex felt it was best to rip the band-aid off and keep her back.

Mark's first surgery of the day was running long which meant that Lily's surgery was being pushed back as a result. Arizona had kept in constant contact with Alex via text message to let him know about the delays so that Amber wouldn't worry. Arizona and Lily were getting along fabulously as they waited for Mark except for a slight disagreement about which Sesame Street character was the best; Arizona was a staunch supporter of the Cookie Monster while Lily could not be swayed from supporting Elmo.

"Who's the kid with Arizona?" Callie asked Mark as they walked in the pre-op area. She watched Arizona sitting on a bed reading Lily a book. "It seems like she knows her," Callie commented after Arizona placed a kiss on the side of the toddler's head.

"That's Karev's niece," Mark said as he grabbed his scrub cap, ready to start Lily's surgery.

"Karev has a niece? Since when?"

"Since yesterday when she showed up needing surgery. Robbins and I are doing a myringotomy on her today."

Callie couldn't help but notice how amazing Arizona looked with Lily. She couldn't stop her mind from wandering and thinking about how she was supposed to have a baby with Arizona until their relationship blew up. Some days were harder than others for Callie to see babies; seeing babies just reminded her of the daughter she would never get to sing to sleep at night. After Arizona let Callie down gently earlier in the year, Callie had done her best to forget about the blonde. She had even started dating both men and women but no one so far compared to Arizona.

"I'm so sorry," Mark whispered quietly into Callie's ear as he stood behind her. He noticed her staring at Arizona and Lily and knew exactly where her thoughts had taken her.

"Sorry for what?" Callie asked as she turned around to look at Mark.

Mark gripped Callie's shoulder, "I just wish that things were different. Lily's only a few months older than she should be."

Callie stiffened at Mark's reference to their daughter. While they were able to repair their relationship they didn't speak about Sofia often. Mark could only remember twice that they talked about Sofia outside of therapy – on the anniversary of her due date and her death. Callie bit back the tears that threatened to fall and just nodded her agreement with Mark about how things should be different; they should be but they weren't.

"Do you ever think about you and me?" Mark asked quietly. "About us being an us. I just think we could be a great us."

"Are you serious?" Callie jerked her head up. "We don't do relationship. We do friendship. We do sex. And we haven't even done sex in a very long time."

"That doesn't mean we couldn't do relationship," Mark said quickly as he saw that Arizona had finally noticed that he was out of his last surgery.

Callie didn't answer Mark. She didn't know what to think about when it came to Mark and a relationship. Luckily Arizona bounced up to them with Lily in her arms to save Callie from having to give Mark an answer.

"Hey Callie. Mark, are you ready?" Arizona asked unaware of the conversation she interrupted. Lily was tired and cranky. Arizona pressed another kiss into her temple as she rubbed the girl's back. "Because Miss Lily had her sedative over an hour ago and is more than ready to take her nap."

"Sure, let's go."

**…**

Like any kid after a simple surgery, Lily rebounded quickly. After one day of lounging on the couch, she was back to her energetic toddler ways. The day after her surgery, Alex came home with his arms full of bags. He knew that their house wasn't the most kid friendly. They didn't have anything to help keep Lily busy during the day so he took it upon himself to go to the nearest store and buy out their baby section. Arizona quickly found that the highlight of her day was coming home to find the Karev family playing in the living room. Arizona made a point to give Alex as much time off as she could while his family was visiting. Amber was enjoying spending time with her older brother. Being a single mom was hard on her and she couldn't remember the last time that she had slept more than six hours at once. She often protested when Alex or Arizona offered to take care of Lily while Amber rested but she learned that they didn't take no for an answer and she was grateful for the help.

Alex watched from the doorway as Arizona read Lily her bedtime story. He watched as Arizona sang a lullaby in her ear as she gently put Lily into the pack-n-play that they had set up in one of the guest rooms. Arizona was amazing with Lily. Alex knew that Arizona hadn't always wanted kids but seeing her with Lily he didn't know why because she was a natural mother.

"She's pretty cute, huh?" Alex asked whispered when Arizona bumped into him in the doorway.

"She is. Must not take after her uncle," Arizona teased as they both continued to watch Lily drift off into dreamland.

"I want one," Arizona broke the silence that had overcome them.

Alex looked at her confused, "Want one what?"

"A baby."

"Uh. That came out of nowhere?"

"Not really," Arizona explained as she moved them into the hall and down to the living room so that they didn't wake Lily up. "I've been thinking about it a lot… since the shooting."

"Really?" Alex asked.

"When I thought…when I thought," Arizona stuttered as she curled up onto the couch next to Alex. "When I thought we were going to die sitting in that closet I closed my eyes and was praying to live. I had a vision or a dream or whatever. Whatever it was, I was sitting in the backyard watching my kids run around playing. I had a baby on my lap. I just… I want that. I'm ready for that. Soon."

Alex smiled as he listened to Arizona explain what she saw while they were waiting to die. When she described what she saw, Alex created a mental picture of that in his head as well. Except they weren't Arizona's kids. They were _their_ kids. "You'll be a great mom," Alex said as he broke himself out of his daydream.

"You don't think I'm crazy for wanting a baby when I'm not even in a relationship?"

"If you wait until that happens you could be waiting forever," Alex joked, trying to lighten the somber mood that always overtook them when they talked about the shooting.

Arizona punched him in his shoulder retaliation for his comment about her romantic life, "You're such an ass."

"You love me anyway," Alex laughed as he dodged another punch.

"I do," Arizona agreed so quietly that she thought Alex couldn't hear.

Alex did hear Arizona's words but chose not to respond to them. "So, you looking for sperm yet?"

Arizona rolled her eyes and threw up her hands, "I went to one website and I got overwhelmed. There's just too many choices. Height. Eye color. Hair color. Medical history. Where did they go to college? What do they like to do in their free time?"

"You know you can't believe those questionnaires. Three out of five of those dudes are probably still living at home and just needed the extra cash for a new video game," Alex said honestly. He didn't realize that he was unconsciously dissuading her from her sperm search because he didn't want her to find sperm. He really wanted her to use his sperm. Except in a non-donor situation.

"You're a real gem, you know that Alex."

"I just want the best for you, Zo. You deserve the best sperm so make sure it is good," Alex said as he wrapped his arm around her. It was the truth. He had seen many of his college friends donate sperm for extra beer money. She at least needed to make sure whatever sperm bank she used did background checks and ensured the guys weren't lying on their applications.

Arizona needed to change the conversation. She couldn't keep talking to Alex about sperm choices when all she really wanted to do was be with him and eventually have his babies. She was trying so hard to move on from Alex but he didn't make it easy. "So, Halloween is tomorrow."

"I know," Alex said. "I didn't want to bring it up. I know how jumpy you get for it."

"I am a scaredy cat," Arizona agreed. "But I was thinking that Lily would look really cute all dressed up as a kitten or a bunny or a ladybug or something like that. I talked to Amber about it and she said she was okay with it if we wanted to take her to the party at work tomorrow."

"My niece is not going to be a ladybug," Alex mused. "Karev's are not cute and cuddly."

"Oh, Lily is totally cute and cuddly."

"She is badass. Did you see the way she totally threw her cup of juice at dinner today? That was not cute nor cuddly."

Arizona laughed as she recalled Alex's first lesson in dealing with an angry toddler. "It was pretty funny though."

Alex tried to ignore Arizona's laughter, "How about we let Lily choose? We'll take her to the store and she can pick. And absolutely no bribing her with cookies, Robbins."

Arizona agreed and it was decided that Lily would pick her own costume for the Seattle Grace – Mercy West costume party.

**…**

"When did Robbins and Karev have a kid? Or did they steal one?" Cristina asked Callie and Meredith as she watched Alex and Arizona walk into the cafeteria turned party room with a toddler dressed as one of the monsters from Monsters, Inc. While it wasn't a cute and cuddly ladybug costume for Arizona it also wasn't a badass costume for Alex. Instead it was the perfect mix – a cute, cuddly and badass monster.

"Oh that's Lily. Alex's niece," Callie informed Cristina. "She had to have tubes in her ears the other day."

"I can't believe they dressed up. Peds has totally made Karev soft," Cristina commented as she took in the costumes that Alex and Arizona were wearing. Alex was sporting an eye patch and a pirate's hat while Arizona donned a white dress shirt with a Harry Potter themed tie and scarf.

"I doubt he had much of a choice, knowing Arizona," Callie told Cristina. She knew that while Halloween wasn't Arizona's favorite holiday she would still always dress up because her patients loved it.

Cristina rolled her eyes, "Well Karev needs to get his balls back. He lost them to Robbins when he moved in with her."

Meredith smacked Cristina and shushed her as she pointed to all of the children around them and walked off to greet their friends. Cristina shrugged her shoulders and dragged Callie toward the bowls of candy; after all that was the only reason they were there – to get a sugar high.

"Hey," Meredith greeted Alex and Arizona who were busy watching Lily dance with a little boy dressed up as Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. "Cute niece."

"Thanks," Alex smiled.

"You guys coming to the party at my place tonight?" Meredith asked.

"I don't think so," Alex answered. "We're taking Lily trick or treating."

"Well if you get done early, you know where I live."

Alex nodded to Meredith as he watched Buzz Lightyear accidentally run into Lily a little too hard. Arizona saw the tears well up in the toddler's eyes and quickly kneeled down so that Lily could run into her arms.

"Auntie Zo," Lily cried as Arizona cradled her. When Amber introduced Lily to Alex she told her that Alex was her uncle. And Lily knew, even with her limited toddler knowledge, that if she had an uncle then the pretty lady next to Alex must be her aunt so Arizona immediately became Aunt Zo instead of just Zo.

After less than a week with Lily, Alex and Arizona could already tell when a meltdown was coming. They weren't sure if it was the hit from Buzz or the sugar crash but they knew that Lily was about to lose it and decided that it was time to go. Arizona transferred Lily into her Uncle's arms and sent them home to nap with Amber so that they would be ready for trick-or-treating when Arizona got home from work.

Meredith, Callie and Cristina stood at the back of the room sucking on their lollipops as they watched Alex and Arizona take care of the little girl. To anyone else in the room, Alex, Arizona and Lily looked like a family. To their fellow surgeons that knew better, they still looked like a family.

**…**

Alex had just finished helping Amber put Lily to bed when he found Arizona crashed out on her bed flipping the channels on the television.

"There's nothing on except for stupid scary movies," Arizona huffed when she saw Alex looming in her doorway.

"It is Halloween," Alex remarked as he made his way into her room. He hadn't spent much time in Arizona's bedroom as he used to, since they were both trying to keep their distance more. He felt weird sitting on her bed again. But it was only nine at night and both Amber and Lily were already asleep so he had no one else to entertain him but Arizona.

"Still," Arizona said annoyed. "They should put something on for the kids."

Alex reached out to steal the remote from her hand and started flicking through the channels looking for something to watch, "Kids aren't up this late at night. We could go to Meredith's if you want. Her party is probably just starting."

"But then I'd have to get dressed," Arizona said as she looked down at the t-shirt and boxers she was wearing. She had gotten ready for bed awhile ago and the thought of having to put real clothes on again made her tired just thinking about it.

"You could go as some kind of bedbug monster or something."

"Nah," Arizona shook her head and grabbed the remote back. "I'm good here. But you should go."

Alex leaned back and got himself comfortable against the pillows on his unofficial side of the bed, "If I go, who is going to protect you from the Halloween monsters?"

"I don't need protection from monsters because I'm not going to watch anything scary."

"Stop," Alex yelled startling Arizona. He pointed to the television which was showing Beetlejuice, "This is a classic and so not scary."

"Alex," Arizona whined not wanting to watch anything remotely scary and this movie was about a ghost who haunted a houses. Ghosts were scary. Even funny ghosts.

Alex pulled Arizona into his arms. "I'll protect you," he whispered as Arizona got comfortable against his chest.

Arizona lost interest in the movie almost as soon as it started but she could tell that Alex was enjoying it so she feigned interest. Instead of focusing on the movie she focused on the feeling of being in Alex's arms. Her hand absentmindedly drew circles on Alex's t-shirt clad chest as she tried not to fall asleep to the movie. Arizona didn't realize that Alex wasn't paying attention to the movie either. His body was on fire with each touch from Arizona. He had to bite his lip to stop from groaning when she shifted against him and her lips grazed her neck. When she started making circles on his chest and came precariously close to his nipples, he had to take action. He grasped Arizona's hand and stilled it against his chest causing Arizona to look up at him. Alex let go of her hand and cupped her cheek bringing her in for a soft but passionate kiss.

After a few minutes of kissing each other Arizona pulled away and rested her forehead against Alex's, "We can't do this."

Alex pulled her back in for another kiss. "Why not?" he mumbled against her lips.

"Mmm," Arizona moaned into the kiss. "Because you're my best friend."

"Friends kiss all the time," Alex tried to justify their actions as they continued to kiss.

"Not like this," Arizona said when they broke for air again. "You don't kiss Meredith like this."

"Who says I don't?" Alex joked and tried to pull Arizona back onto him before noticing the glare he was getting from the blonde. "I don't," Alex said trying to backtrack as he realized his joke wasn't found funny. "I only kiss you like this."

"If we keep doing this, we'll ruin our friendship," Arizona said trying to remind herself why she had been staying away from Alex as she also tried to control her hormones and act like an adult and not like a teenager.

Alex shook his head, "Not if we don't let it. I promise it won't."

"Promise?" Arizona asked as she looked at him with her baby blue eyes shining.

"I promise," Alex whispered before pulling her face back to him. "Friends can kiss. It's a new rule in our friendship. I just made it."

"Can friends do more than kiss?" Arizona asked as she played with the waistband of his pajama pants and started to slip her hand down the back of them.

Alex immediately jumped off the bed when Arizona started playing with his pants.

"Where are you going?" Arizona asked, afraid that she'd pushed their 'friendship' limits too far when she saw him heading towards her bedroom door.

Alex walked back to the bed and leaned down over Arizona and placed a soft peck on her lips, "To get a condom. I'll be right back. Don't move."

**…**

Arizona woke up when her alarm went off early the next morning. She rolled over, shut it off and went right back to snuggling in Alex's arms.

"You need to get up," Alex mumbled into Arizona's hair when Arizona snoozed her alarm for the second time. "You have Joey's surgery first thing."

"I know but it's so nice and warm right here," Arizona commented as she burrowed even deeper into Alex's arms. "What time do you come in?"

"I have to take Lily and Amber to the airport at eleven then I'll be in."

"I'm going to miss them," Arizona commented. "It was nice to have them here."

"Yeah, me too," Alex kissed the top of Arizona's head.

"I should get up. I want to have time to say goodbye to them before I go to work," Arizona groaned as she got up leaving Alex half asleep in bed.

Arizona was surprised to see her bed empty when she got out of the shower. Alex loved his sleep and would take advantage of every second he could get so it was surprising to see him awake so early when he didn't need to be. Arizona heard tiny toddler laughs coming from the downstairs quickly followed by a deeper laugh and realized that Lily must have been the one to get Alex out of bed so early.

"Hey," Arizona chirped as she made her way into the kitchen and saw the three Karev's busy eating pancakes. "Pancakes?" she looked to Alex with surprise. "Are they good Lil?"

The toddler nodded her head vigorously in response.

"Don't look so surprised, Zo. I've been watching you make them for over a year now," Alex got up to make pour a cup of coffee for Arizona as she grabbed a plate.

"Yeah but you always burn them," Arizona took notice of the very non-burned pancakes in front of their houseguests. "I'm beginning to think you burn them just so I have to make them."

Alex laughed loudly and shook his head as Arizona joined them at the table. Arizona had to eat quickly since she took so long to get out of bed. She made sure to take her time in saying goodbye to Lily and Amber. She slipped Amber her cell phone number while Alex was putting the dishes in the dishwasher; she made sure Amber knew to call her if she ever needed help and didn't want to involve her brother. Saying goodbye to Lily was particularly hard as she had gotten very attached to the little girl. Lily gave her several big hugs and kisses and made her Auntie Zo promise that she would talk to her on the phone very soon.

After breakfast it was time for Amber and Lily to pack their things to head back to Iowa. Alex refused to let them take a two day bus ride again and purchased them plane tickets as well as luggage so that Lily could take home everything that he and Arizona had spoiled her with during the week. Lily was taking a morning nap while her mom took care of the packing for them.

"Don't think I didn't notice you were coming out of Arizona's bedroom this morning," Amber raised her eyebrows at her brother. "I knew something was going on there."

"Nothing is going on there," Alex said adamantly. "We're just friends."

"Friends who sleep together?"

"Once or twice – yes."

"I like her. She's really nice."

"She's amazing," Alex answered as he stuffed another stuffed animal into a bag.

Amber couldn't help but notice the wide smile on her brother's face. "She'd make a great sister-in-law."

"We're just friends, Amb," Alex explained. He didn't want to think that they'd be more than that. If he got his hopes up that they could be more than that then he'd only get hurt. He was happy getting Arizona in any way that he could and Arizona naked in bed was something he wasn't willing to lose by pushing her to be more than just friends with benefits.

"Just be careful, big brother," Amber cautioned. "And make sure to use a condom. I learned that lesson the hard way," Amber said as she gestured to the sleeping beauty on the bed.

"Yeah but she's pretty great and you're doing a great job with her," Alex said as he pulled Amber into a hug.

"Thanks," Amber whispered as she tried to hide her tears. "I'm serious about Arizona though. Don't let her get away, Alex. Whatever it takes, you do it."

"I will," he nodded as he wondered just where his little sister's new found wisdom had come from. She was no longer his bratty little sister who just got in the way.

"I mean it, Alex," Amber emphasized her point with a punch to the shoulder. After only a week with them, Amber could tell that what Arizona and Alex had was something special even if they were both too stupid to realize it.

**…**


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I hope that everyone had a great holiday! Thanks as always for everyone one who read the last chapter and for all the reviews. I can't promise another update before the New Year but I am going to try. This one has a touch of Christmas so I hope everyone is still in the holiday spirit. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona felt like she was going to throw up. She usually felt nauseous while flying but this time she thought that she might actually throw up. Her nerves were in overdrive as she gripped the arm rest of her seat tightly. She was trying to be strong. She was trying not to freak out. She hoped that if she closed her eyes and practiced her deep breathing exercises then she would be okay but none of that was working. Arizona didn't think that returning to Malawi would be as hard as it was for her and the plane hadn't even landed in Lilongwe yet. She had easily reconciled her feelings about the Malawi incident in therapy. Her therapist helped her work through her fear and she was able to move past it. But just the thought of being in Malawi again made her tremble. She knew that the men that had taken the hospital hostage were all dead but that didn't mean that the rebel group that they represented was gone. The rebels were still very much around. Her mind couldn't help but believe that the men would know that she was back in the country and come back to the hospital to finish the job.

Her seatmate looked over at her with sad eyes. He could see her taking deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. He didn't blame Arizona for being so upset. He had spent the last two weeks telling her that she didn't have to do this; that he could go alone but she wouldn't hear of it. He didn't know how he could make this trip easier for her. He was having his own flashbacks as they made their way to Malawi. He knew that walking back into the hospital was going to be hard. He knew that he would constantly be looking over his shoulder as he worked, looking to make sure that there wasn't someone out to kill him. But he knew that his job was important and the children needed him; he also knew that Arizona understood that as well, which was the only reason that she was on the airplane at all.

As the plane started to make its decent, Alex reached out and placed his hand on Arizona's nervously bouncing leg. She gave him a small smile in return and took her hand off of the armrest and covered his hand with hers. Alex would make sure that Arizona's week in Malawi was as painless as possible for her.

**…**

Arizona didn't talk much once they arrived in Malawi. Not that she had talked much since they boarded the plane in Seattle. She answered Alex's questions with head nods or simple yes and no answers. She let Alex lead the way as they made their way from the airport to the hotel. Alex went out of his way to make sure that this trip had very as few reminders as possible as the last one. He knew he couldn't keep Arizona out of the hospital but he could change other things. The first thing he did was make sure that they stayed at a different hotel for their stay. While the hotel had very good memories, the main one being the first time they ever slept together, it was still the hotel they retreated to after the incident and it would surely bring up bad memories for Arizona. Instead, he booked their stay at a hotel in the downtown area of Lilongwe. Unlike the last hotel that was a short walk away from the hospital, this one would require a rental car but it was worth it to Alex for Arizona's sake.

After parking the rental car and grabbing their luggage, Alex and Arizona stood at the check-in counter waiting in line to get to their rooms. They had been traveling for a full day and Alex could tell that all Arizona wanted to do was order room service and try to get some sleep before starting their first day of work in Malawi.

"Passports," Madga, the lady behind the counter said as she motioned them forward from their spot in the queue toward her.

Alex pulled his out of his jacket as Arizona did the same. Magda took their passports and began typing furiously at her keyboard.

"Okay, Dr. Robbins and Dr. Karev, I have you down for two rooms both on the tenth floor. Checking in today and checking out on the twenty-ninth. Is that correct?"

Alex opened his mouth to confirm but was cut off by Arizona's voice, "We'll only be needing one room."

Magda nodded her head at the blonde and gave Alex a slight smirk as she went back to typing on her keyboard. Alex looked at Arizona curiously. When he made the hotel reservations he didn't want to be presumptuous and book only one room. It had only been two weeks since they decided to be friends with benefits and they hadn't really outlined the rules of the new turn in their relationship. The only thing Alex knew for sure was that as soon as they left the house, their relationship was strictly platonic.

Magda finished their registration and slid their passports back across the counter with two room keys, "Room 1012, elevator is right behind you. Enjoy your stay."

Alex pocketed their passports and keys as he grabbed their luggage and followed Arizona into an elevator.

"Home sweet home," Alex whispered as he pushed the door open to their room.

Arizona flopped down on the king sized bed and flicked her shoes off of her feet. She looked positively exhausted. Alex left the luggage at the foot of the bed and lay down into bed next to Arizona. He propped himself up on one arm as he stared at her.

"You okay?" Alex asked.

Arizona took a deep breath before nodding and opening her eyes to look up at the man above her. "I'm good," Arizona said before averting her eyes to look around the room. "I hope you're okay with sharing a room. I just… I don't think being alone would be a good thing for this trip."

Alex took his free hand and gently pulled her gaze back toward him. "You're not alone," he said as he stroked her cheek with his thumb and leaned down to capture her lips in a kiss. It wasn't a passionate kiss but a reassuring comforting one. He needed Arizona to know that he was going to take care of her. Alex smiled as he pulled out of the kiss, still stroking her cheek. "How about I order room service, you go take a nice relaxing bath in that huge jacuzzi, then we'll eat dinner and go to bed early so that we're well rested so that we can save some tiny humans' lives tomorrow? Okay?"

Arizona bit her lip and sat up in bed as she decided that his plan was a good idea. "Okay. Get me some chicken fingers and fries, please?" she asked as she kissed his cheek and made her way into the bathroom, dropping clothes off of her body as she walked away.

**…**

Arizona stood outside the hospital for ten minutes before she got the courage to walk inside the doors. It wasn't really courage that got her to go inside it was more the fear that she was more vulnerable outside the building than inside it. They were met by the director in charge of the grant program. He outlined all of the new security the hospital had added in the last two months. Arizona nodded and smiled as he spoke but in her head she was thinking about how the rebels with their machine guns would be able to get past all of the security checkpoints the hospital added; rebels didn't care about murder or chaos and would do whatever it took to get what they wanted.

Arizona and Alex were scheduled for three surgeries each on their first day back. The one part of the trip that Alex hated was that he wouldn't be able to be with Arizona the whole time. Arizona hated feeling weak. She put on a brave face and told Alex that she would be fine. She told him to go and fix some tiny humans. They made tentative plans to rendezvous for lunch if time permitted before going their separate ways to find their patients for the day.

They didn't get to meet for lunch. Alex's surgery ran long and Arizona got pulled in to consult on a newborn baby that had been brought into the emergency room. The one thing that could always be counted on in Malawi was a busy schedule. In fact, Alex didn't see Arizona again until it was eight at night and time to go home for the day. He had been a little worried about her. He knew she was strong and tough and would put on a good face but he also knew just how hard it was for Arizona to return to Malawi. Alex finished his surgeries for the day before Arizona did and decided to wait for her in the locker room.

"Hey," Arizona smiled as she sauntered into the room toward her locker.

Alex was surprised to see Arizona so happy at the end of a long day. "Good day?" he asked as he noted her positive attitude.

Arizona lifted her scrub top off of her head as she reached for her shirt in her locker, "Great day. My surgeries went perfectly and I even got to fix up a tiny baby in the ER. How was yours?"

"Good. Very good," Alex answered a little confused at how perky Arizona said to be but wasn't going to question it.

"You can stop staring, Alex. I'm fine," Arizona said as she looked over her shoulder toward Alex. "Today just reminded me of exactly why I'm here. To help give these children their lives back. Am I still scared? Yes, but I'm not going to let it control me."

"Okay. But I'm here if you need me, you know that right?"

Arizona grabbed her bag after she finished changing her clothes. She made her way to the bench that Alex was sitting on and grabbed his hand and pulled him up. "I know," she answered as they kept their hands entwined as they left the hospital.

**…**

They had made it. Arizona had survived her week in Africa and hadn't had a mental breakdown. She had only had nightmares two of the six nights that they were there. It helped that they were incredibly busy at the hospital. They worked long days and were so tired that by the time they got back to the hotel they fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed. Alex couldn't have been prouder of Arizona. He knew how afraid she was to be back in Malawi but she faced her fears to honor her commitment and she overcame those fears.

"You know today is Thanksgiving," Alex glanced over at the woman in the passenger seat and squeezed their still together hands as they drove back to the hotel for the last time. They had one more night in Malawi before their early morning flight back to Seattle.

"I had forgotten about it until one of the nurses asked me about it. She didn't understand the holiday. I had to agree with her about the whole celebrating the pilgrims making peace with the Native Americans just to basically exterminate them later on."

Alex let out a laugh, "Well aren't you full of sunshine tonight."

"Hey!" Arizona mocked offense. "Just because I don't agree with the holiday doesn't mean I don't celebrate it. A day of gorging myself and football? What's better than that? Plus it's the start of the holiday season which you know I love."

"Good," Alex smiled at her. "Because our hotel is offering a turkey dinner and they have satellite television in the sports bar so we should be able to catch the Bears game."

"I still don't see why you are a Bears fan. Pick a real team. Maybe one day the state of Iowa will be cool enough to get their own team. Or you could always go with the Seahawks." Arizona teased her friend. After living in Seattle they had both started to claim the Seahawks more than their childhood teams but they would always be fans of their hometown teams as well.

"How can you not be a fan of the Super Bowl Shuffle? That sealed me as a Bears fan for life. And it's not like you lived in DC either. Shouldn't you be a Ravens fan or something? They're way better than the Redskins," Alex ranted as he parked their car at the hotel. Arizona always gave him shit about the Bears. While they were a pretty decent team they hadn't succeeded in winning the Super Bowl since the mid 1980s. Not like Arizona's team the Redskins was much better but they had won a Super Bowl in the 1990s which the Bears couldn't claim to have done.

"I did live in DC for the last two years of high school and my parents still live there so I have ties to my team at least. Chicago was what at least a six hour drive for you?" Arizona linked their hands together again as they walked into the hotel as they continued to debate the merits of their football teams.

"Well, we'll find out who the superior team is in two weeks," Alex said as he guided them toward the hotel's finest restaurant

"Are you thinking what I am?" Arizona asked as she smirked at Alex and bumped their shoulders together.

Alex laughed and released her hand before wrapping his arm around her shoulder, "I don't think it's fair to take your money from you. The Bears have been on fire this year."

"I never said we had to wager money, Alex."

They paused their conversation for a moment as they waited to be seated at the restaurant. Once the hostess had left them with their menus they picked it up right where they left off.

"What would we bet then?"

"Whatever you want," she mused as she studied the menu even though she knew she was going to go with the Thanksgiving special.

"Anything?" Alex quirked his eyebrows as his mind immediately went to a dirty place.

Arizona leaned in closer to his body and whispered in his ear so that her tongue flicked his earlobe as she spoke, "Anything."

A coughing from the nearby waiter who wanted to take their orders caused Arizona to jump and move back into her own chair as Alex laughed at her bright red face. They weren't used to being so flirty out in the open with each other. Alex loved being able to hold her hand, give flirty touches and kiss her in public. Sitting at dinner, playing footsie with Arizona under the table while they flirted over a meal was starting to feel like a real relationship and Alex was really enjoying that feeling. He knew that once they got back to Seattle it would all go away and the most he would get was spending nights in her bed.

Arizona thought that her Thanksgiving meal in Africa was one of the best Thanksgiving meals she'd had in ages. She didn't expect that a hotel in Africa would be able to make a Thanksgiving spread that could easily rival one in America. After they thoroughly stuffed themselves on turkey and fixings, Alex was pleased to find that the Chicago Bears game was on in the attached sports bar. Even though the Bears weren't Arizona's favorite team she still cheered for them in support of her friend – as long as they weren't playing her Redskins. Alex kept stealing looks at Arizona as the game progressed. She looked happy. She was smiling, cheering and laughing as she watched the football game. At the beginning of their week in Malawi, he didn't think he'd see Arizona enjoying her time spent in Africa ever again.

"So you never said what you wanted to bet," Arizona said as she pulled the covers back on the bed and made herself comfortable. She was exhausted from the week in Africa. The long days at the hospital and the constant worrying about her safety were starting to catch up to her. She had planned on going to bed early that night because she knew she wouldn't get any sleep on the airplane but Alex looked so happy watching the football game that she couldn't drag him away until it was over and the Bears were victorious.

Alex flicked the light off to the room and crawled into bed next to Arizona. "I'm thinking about it. I don't want to waste this opportunity on something lame. What do you want to bet?"

"Oh no," Arizona shook her head as she curled her body against Alex's. "I'm not sharing until you do."

"So no rules?" Alex asked as he felt Arizona start to drift off in his arms. It had been a very long day for her and he knew that she would fall asleep as soon as she hit the bed.

"No," Arizona mumbled. "But nothing illegal. I'm too pretty for jail."

"Me too," Alex agreed and placed a soft kiss atop Arizona's head that was resting on his chest. "Good night."

The last thing Alex heard before he slipped into dreamland was a quiet "Good night" from Arizona.

**…**

When they returned from Africa, the holidays were in full swing in Seattle. The first day they had a day off together, Arizona dragged Alex to buy the biggest tree she could find. She also had him out on the ladder decorating the outside of the house with lights of every color while she took care of decorating the inside of the house. She loved the holiday season. There wasn't just one thing about the month from Thanksgiving and Christmas that made her happy – it was a combination of everything put together that made it the best time of the year. She even loved all of the annoying Christmas carols that the radio stations overplayed. She constantly had them playing throughout the house; she even listened to them during her workouts. After almost two weeks straight of Christmas carols, Alex was ready to throw the stereo system out the window and they had to make a deal that Christmas carols were only allowed for one hour a day and that anything more than that she could use her headphones to listen to them.

Arizona's holiday season was going swimmingly until she came into work one day to see a resignation letter from one of her attending surgeons. Dr. Clopper was the attending scheduled to work over the Christmas holidays and now she had no one to fill the spot. She looked at the list of all of her attendings. She knew she could screw one of them over and require them to change their Christmas plans but she wasn't a Scrooge. She knew her only option was to pick up the slack herself. She would have to cancel her Christmas plans. She was going to fly to DC to spend the week with her parents and extended family but not before she spent two days in Iowa with Alex, Amber and Lily first. But now she was going to be stuck in Seattle all by her lonesome for her favorite holiday.

She was in the middle of browsing the internet trying desperately to change her flights in an attempt to salvage some of her holiday vacation when her office door flung open and Alex ran in, closed the door quickly and sighed as he leaned against the now closed door.

Arizona eyed him curiously, "Uhh? What was that about?"

Alex's eyes snapped open. He didn't think Arizona was in her office. The lights were off so he assumed she wasn't there. He was honestly just glad the door had been unlocked as he needed a place to hide out from the unruly nurse who was chasing him. "Oh!" Alex exclaimed and looked at his feet sheepishly. "I didn't think you were in here."

"Right. I gathered that. What are you doing in here then?"

Alex pushed off of the door and flopped on the couch. "McCormick is angry at me."

"What'd you do this time to anger my nurses?" Arizona asked. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. While she saw the kinder, gentler side of Alex Karev, she knew that most of the hospital didn't get to see that side of him. They got to know his loud mouth and tendencies to be an asshole.

"Nothing!" Alex protested.

Arizona gave him a hard glare. She knew that he must have done something.

"Fine. I might have yelled a little during surgery. But she was giving me the wrong tools."

"What'd you say to her?"

Alex looked at his hands and mumbled, "I told her 'to get her head out of her ass and do her job.'"

"Alex," Arizona sighed and continued to glare at him. Nancy McCormick had been a nurse for over twenty years and Arizona knew that she wasn't going to take being yelled at by what she saw as a hot shot young doctor.

"I'll apologize," Alex added before Arizona could lecture him. "I just want to give her some time to calm down before she throws her shoe at me like she threatened."

Arizona nodded her acceptance of his offer to apologize and went back to scanning her flight options on the computer.

"Why so blue panda bear?" Alex asked when he saw the frown form on her face.

Arizona sighed and shook her head. She was trying really hard not to let the latest development ruin her Christmas spirit. Alex patted the couch next to him and Arizona reluctantly stood up from behind her chair and slumped next to him on the couch.

"So…" Alex said trying to get Arizona to talk.

"I have to work Christmas. Clopper quit without giving me any notice. Some job in Idaho. Who wants to live in Idaho?"

"Oh," Alex said trying not to sound too depressed about it. He was really looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with Arizona in Iowa before she went to spend Christmas Day with her parents. She knew that Arizona had been looking forward to it as well.

"Everyone wants the day off of course. Polly had to work Thanksgiving because we were gone. You are going to Iowa and I don't want to keep you from that. Sears has a new baby and I want him to be home for her first Christmas. Richards also has kids and I don't want to keep her from them either. I haven't worked a holiday in a year so…it's my time," Arizona sighed dejectedly. "I have to take one for the team."

"Just think of all the kids' days you can brighten by being here on Christmas. You're the best person to help keep their spirits up when they're sad about being here on Christmas," Alex tried to remind Arizona about how much fun spending Christmas with the kids at the hospital could be.

Arizona rested her head against Alex's shoulder. She was pushing their unsaid boundaries about touching at work but she was upset and needed his comfort. "I know but I know how much my parents were really looking forward to me being home." Arizona paused before looking up at Alex, "I was really looking forward to spending some of the holiday with you too."

"I know," Alex said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "You can push up your vacation so that you are back in time for Christmas so you can still see your parents. And we'll just celebrate before you leave. Or when I get back. I'll be back on the twenty-sixth."

"Yeah, I'm going to leave for DC on Monday so that I can get a week at home before needing to be back here on the twenty-third."

"So we'll celebrate Christmas this Sunday. We've both got the day off in honor of it being the day that the Bears are going to trounce on your Redskins," Alex pressed a kiss to Arizona's temple. "It'll be cutting it close but I can have your gift ready in time."

"Christmas on Sunday sounds good. It'll give you something to cheer you up when the Bears lose because my gift for you is epic," Arizona teased. "Have you figured out what your wager is yet?"

"How about we share that before the game? I'd like to keep it under wraps for a bit longer."

Arizona nodded her agreement and they sat together on the couch in the dark of Arizona's office just enjoying each other's company. They had both been so busy that week that they barely saw each other except for passing moments in the work hallways. When they got home from work all they had time to do was go to sleep before going back to work the next day. Arizona was missing the intimacy that had grown over the last month and a half with Alex. She couldn't chance anyone seeing them together at work to get more than a seemingly unaffectionate touch of the arm from Alex while they were at the hospital. But friends with benefits weren't supposed to want or miss things from their benefits partner – especially not emotional things.

Arizona was about to lean up to steal a mid-shift kiss from Alex's lips when they heard a knock on the door.

"Hey," Teddy called as she opened the door and instinctively turned on the lights. She didn't notice Arizona jump out of Alex's arms toward the opposite end of the couch but she did notice the red blush that covered her face.

Arizona smiled at Teddy and gestured her into the room.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were busy. I can come back," Teddy said when she made her way into the room and saw Alex sitting awkwardly on the other end of the couch.

Alex stood up, "No, I think it's safe for me to leave now. Unless you saw a tiny nurse who might have been cursing my name out in the hallway?"

Teddy laughed, "No, no one that fits that description."

"Good. See you later, Robbins," Alex said as he left the sanctuary of Arizona's office and was pushed back into the hospital, hoping to avoid Nancy McCormick for the rest of his shift.

Teddy took Alex's vacant seat on the couch. She wondered just why Arizona and Alex were in her office in the dark. She had been noticing that the pair was acting different around each other. She couldn't put her finger on how they were different, they just were. "What's going on with him?"

"Oh," Arizona waved her hand in the air. "He pissed some nurse off during surgery and was hiding out."

"So that's why you two were sitting in here with the lights out?" Teddy asked curiously. She had noticed that something was going on with Arizona but couldn't figure it out and Arizona wasn't giving up any information.

"Yep," Arizona answered without providing any additional information. "What's up with you?"

"I'm avoiding Hunt," Teddy said as she allowed Arizona to avoid the subject of what was going on with her and Alex. Teddy figured they might have had a fight or something. She had no inkling of their romantic relationship but the more Arizona avoided talking to her about Alex the more she wondered just what was going on. "Owen wants to make me work Christmas and I don't want to. It's Yangs's year to cover it but they're trying to reconcile after their huge fight over Thanksgiving and he thinks Christmas is a fine time to do that. I think he forgets that she's Jewish."

"You should work! I'm working Christmas. It could be fun if we're both stuck here," Arizona shot Teddy her best smile. She knew that Teddy was one of the few people that her dimples and charming good looks didn't work on but she had to try. Having to spend Christmas working with Teddy was sounding much better than a Christmas spent working with Yang. "What were you going to do anyway?"

"Just because I'm single without kids doesn't mean that I should get stuck working every holiday!"

"I didn't mean it like that Teds. I just didn't think you had plans to go out of town or anything. I'm having to reschedule my whole trip to see my parents."

"I was going to eat Chinese and go to a movie."

Arizona nudged Teddy with her shoulder, "We can do that here! It should be a slow day and I'll even let you pick out the movie."

"How nice of you," Teddy rolled her eyes.

"You should appreciate the offer, just ask Karev. He's had to sit through Christmas movie after Christmas movie at our house lately. He would love to be able to pick."

Teddy laughed, "Yang is right – you really do have him whipped. Impressive since he's not getting any from you."

"Hey, it's my house," Arizona defended as she chose to ignore Teddy's comments about their relationship. "He should be happy just to have a roof over his head."

"Right," Teddy said as she glanced at her pager. "Well, if I get stuck here on Christmas we can celebrate together. I'll let you know."

"Great," Arizona smiled as she walked her friend out. "I'm leaving Monday for my parents but I'll be back on the twenty-third."

**…**

Arizona looked up at the clock in the operating room for the fourth time that hour. It was ten in the morning. She had two hours to finish the surgery, shower and make it home in time for kick-off of the Bears – Redskins game. She wasn't even supposed to be working but an early morning page about a newborn with breathing problems forced her to be at the hospital. It was going to be close but she was sure she could make it home in time.

"Cutting it a little close," Alex yelled at her from the couch as she ran into the house still in her scrubs at exactly noon.

"Pause the DVR and we'll catch up during commercials," Arizona called as she went straight upstairs into her bedroom.

Ten minutes later, and only five minutes after kickoff, Arizona was freshly showered and dressed in her finest, well-worn Redskins t-shirt when she made her way back downstairs to find Alex dressed in his own Bears jersey.

"Ready to watch?" Alex asked as he pushed a freshly opened bottle of beer into Arizona's hand.

"Bring it, Karev," Arizona said as she watched Alex start to press play on the remote. "Wait –," she put her hand on his to stop him from hitting the button. "We need to state the terms of the bet before we start the game."

"Ladies first," Alex said wanting Arizona to say her wager first as he needed to garner a bit of courage to say what he wanted out loud.

Arizona rolled her eyes, "Such a gentleman. If the Redskins win then you have to do laundry for the next year. Including towels and sheets."

"A year!" Alex exclaimed. "Isn't that a bit extreme, Robbins?"

"Well, we'll see what your wager is and then we will adjust accordingly to how much your bet will require."

Alex sighed and played with the label on his beer bottle, "When the Bears win, I want you to go out with me." Alex glanced up at Arizona, "A proper date."

"Alex," Arizona sighed. Almost all of her wanted to go on a date with Alex. She really wanted to be more than just friends with benefits but there was a tiny part of her that was still really scared about what going out, _for real_, with Alex would mean. The still scared part of her overrode her heart. "We can't go out on a date. I'm gay."

Alex quirked his eyebrows and stared at his best friend, "Arizona, you're not gay."

"Yes, I am," Arizona defended.

"No, you aren't," Alex countered. "We've been having sex regularly for over a month and a half. If you were gay, we would have never had sex to begin with." Alex reached out to grab Arizona's hand and force her to look at him. "I know this is scary for you. I can't imagine what it is like for you to be discovering this whole new part of yourself. But you're not gay. Bisexual, yes, but not gay."

"I can't give you what you want, Alex," Arizona frowned. "I'm dealing with all of these feelings and it's so confusing. I'm not ready to go public with this change in my life and I don't know when I will be ready."

"I'm not going anywhere, Zo. I'm not saying we need to go public with us right now. I just want a real date. I want to be able to take you out to dinner and hold your hand. I want to go to a movie and hold your hand. I promise that we'll go somewhere where we won't see anyone we know. We'll drive out to Lynwood or Puyallup or something so that we don't see anyone. You deserve more than just take out food in bed and I want to give that to you. We don't have to tell anyone until you're ready."

Arizona groaned but accepted the terms of the wager and held out her hand, "If the Bears win."

"If the Bears win," Alex repeated as he shook her hand and used their joined hands to pull Arizona into his body. He smiled and hit play on the remote with his other hand. He was on cloud nine after having Arizona essentially agree to date him. He had wanted to date her for over six months and over the course of that time he had gotten to have her in every way but the one he wanted – romantically.

The game was intense. The first half ended with no score. It was turning into a defensive battle of power. Arizona and Alex teased each other incessantly throughout the game. Arizona made sure that Alex knew that if she was agreeing to go on a date with him for his bet then he would definitely be doing her laundry for a year for her part of the bet. By the time the game was over the living room coffee table was littered with empty beer bottles and an empty pizza box.

"So," Alex said as he turned the television off after the last play was run and the score was final.

"So," Arizona smiled.

Alex returned the smile and shuffled closer on the couch to Arizona, "I guess this means you've got to go out on a date with me." The final score was seven to three in favor of the Bears. It was more like a baseball score than a football score but Alex wasn't going to question the win.

"I suppose I do," Arizona said quietly.

Alex frowned at Arizona's tone of voice. He didn't want to force her into anything. He only wanted to go on a date with her if she really wanted to do so. "If you don't want to, you don't have to. I'm not going to hold you to a silly bet."

"Ask me properly."

"What?" Alex was confused.

"Ask me properly," Arizona demanded a second time.

A light bulb went off in Alex's head and he realized what Arizona wanted from him. "Arizona, will you go out on a date with me?"

"I would love to," Arizona agreed before pausing. "But can we do Christmas now? Because I think we could have a lot of fun the rest of the night with what I got you."

"Oh really?" Alex asked as he raised his eyebrows at Arizona and smirked.

Arizona smacked him on the arm, "Not that. Good, clean fun."

"Okay, okay. But maybe later for some not so clean fun?" Alex asked as he leaned in to nibble on her earlobe. He chose not react to the punch he got in the kidney from Arizona for his comment. "I need a bit to put the finishing touches on your present. Give me an hour?"

Arizona moaned at the feeling of Alex's breath on her neck while he spoke. She knew there would definitely be time for dirty fun later in the night. Arizona pulled away from Alex's embrace before they ended up in bed and she wanted to do Christmas gifts before that happened. "Works for me, I need to finish packing for my trip anyway."

Alex watched Arizona as she made her way up the stairs and toward her bedroom. He couldn't keep his eyes off of how amazing she looked in just a pair of jeans and t-shirt. As soon as she disappeared from view, he got up and made his way to the shed in the backyard to prepare his gift for Arizona.

**…**

"I might not watch many horror movies but I know that the person wearing the blindfold is usually killed," Arizona grumbled as Alex tied a blindfold around her eyes and led her out onto the back deck.

"I promise not to kill you," Alex whispered into her ear and watched the goosebumps form on Arizona's neck. "Just another minute."

Arizona heard the door to the backyard click closed behind her. Alex had left her side and she wasn't sure where he had gone until she could see hints of light through the blindfold and suddenly Alex appeared next to her again.

Alex untied the blindfold to let Arizona see her gift, "Merry Christmas, Zo."

Arizona took in a sharp breath when she saw what Alex had done for her. The entire back deck was decorated in white Christmas lights. There was something new about her deck though. Something that hadn't been there before.

"It's beautiful," Arizona said as she ran her hands over the porch swing that she was sure Alex had built himself.

"You like it?" Alex asked nervously. He had hoped that she would like it but he was never very good at getting gifts for the women in his life.

Arizona turned away from the swing so she was looking at Alex. "I love it," she said as she leaned in to show her appreciation in the form of a kiss. "You remembered," she whispered as she rested their foreheads together.

"I made it out of the old fence wood. I got the rope that it's hanging on from an old sailboat. I just remember you talking about the porch swing that you and Tim used to always use for your best and most important conversations. And I think this backyard was really missing a swing," Alex rambled as his nerves over his gift took him over. He knew it was an incredibly personal gift and he just hoped that it didn't make her sad to think about Tim.

"It's perfect. Thank you so much," Arizona smiled as she kissed him again. "Now my gift to you looks like crap compared to this."

"I'm sure it's great," Alex reassured her as he dragged her back inside to the house, eager to get his gift. "It's from you so I know that I'll love it."

Arizona directed them to the living room where she had his gift already set up. She had a wrapped box covering the main part of his gift so that he couldn't see it when he walked into the room.

Alex was like a child on Christmas morning and ran to the box as soon as he saw it. "Can I open it?" he asked with his eyes lit up.

Arizona nodded and he lifted the box, revealing his gift.

"Oh my god!" Alex exclaimed as he picked up the various pieces of his gift. "Is this real?"

"Authentic to 1985. That is pure 8-bit gaming goodness," Arizona nodded and smiled as she sat on the floor next to Alex.

"This is awesome! Thank you!" Alex placed an excited kiss on Arizona's lips before turning back toward the game system.

Arizona pushed the power button and watched the television light up with the sounds of Super Mario Brothers Three. "Well, I thought it was a travesty when you said that you never had a video game system growing up. So I had my mom find mine and Tim's and she shipped it out to me. It works perfectly except for occasionally having to blow into a game cartridge to get it work."

Alex took a controller and smiled, "You are so going down, Robbins."

"Please, Alexander. Do I look scared?" Arizona pointed to her face. "I grew up on this. You played, what? Just occasionally at friends' houses? The NES was the first thing my Dad always unpacked after every move. You don't stand a chance against me and my skills."

The sounds of Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Excite Bike, Contra and many other classic Nintendo games filled the house as Arizona taught Alex how to excel in each game. She was rusty but her skills came back to her quickly as they played the video games. While Alex couldn't beat her just yet she was sure that he would be practicing while she was away in DC and would put up a tough fight when she returned.

They played until their thumbs were sore and their hands cramped from the controllers. They had other business to attend to before the morning came. In the morning, Arizona was leaving for a week. It was going to be the longest time period that they had ever been apart since they began their friendship let alone their complicated romantic relationship.

**…**

"I'll miss you," Alex whispered as he wrapped his arms around Arizona and rested his forehead against hers as they stood in the doorway.

"Miss you too," Arizona mumbled.

"Call me when you land. I'll probably be in surgery but leave me a message so that I know that you got there safely."

Arizona nodded her forehead against Alex's.

"Don't forget you owe me a date when you get back," Alex reminded the woman in his arms. To him it felt like they were already together. That they were already in a relationship.

Arizona smiled and linked their hands together, "I could never forget that. You plan it and I'll be there."

"Good."

"I need to go," Arizona sighed.

Alex picked up Arizona's suitcase and carried it out to her car. "I wish you'd let me drive you."

"You have to work. Plus I'll need a way to get home when I get back since you'll be in Iowa."

Alex opened the driver's side car door for Arizona. Arizona paused to give him a long hug and kiss before she sat down in the seat.

Arizona started the car before turning to Alex who was still standing by her now closed car door. "Take care of my department for me. Don't hesitate to call me if there are any issues."

"I will," he said as he leaned down to give her one last kiss goodbye.

"Bye," Arizona called out as she put the car into reverse and drove out of the garage. She had to stop herself from throwing out an 'I love you' before she drove away. They had told each other that they love each other before. But that was before they were dating or whatever it was they were doing. She didn't know if it was appropriate to tell him those three words even though she really wanted to, so instead she just kept her mouth shut and gave him a smile and a wave as she drove away.

Alex watched Arizona drive away. He didn't go back into the house until her car was out of his line of sight. She had only been gone for three minutes but his heart still hurt. The house felt incredibly lonely already. He had three days before he was to leave for Iowa. He just hoped that work was busy so that the time would go by quickly for him.

**…**


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: Not a whole lot of A/A interaction in this one but it helps to set things up for the future. Thanks for reading. Happy New Year!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona hadn't considered Washington DC home in well over fifteen years. Home was now Seattle where she owned her own home. After moving over six times before she was eighteen-years-old the concept of home wasn't a location but where her heart was. Her heart was now firmly in Seattle but the feeling of coming home to her parents still made her smile. There were still very few feelings that could compare to walking into her parents' home. It was comfortable. It was the one place besides her own home that she knew the door was always open for her. It was the one place that Arizona knew that she could always go and be accepted – no matter what.

It was a five hour flight to get to DC from Seattle. Including a layover and a three hour time change meant that it was almost bedtime by the time she got to DC even though she left Seattle in the morning. Both of her parents picked her up at the airport like they had promised. Her mother was much more visibly excited to have her home but Arizona knew her father was just as thrilled even if he didn't nearly pummel her to the floor in a hug like her mother did when they saw her in the airport. They made small talk about her flight and travels as they made the drive to the family home. They let her know that they were thrilled to have her home in any capacity even if she wasn't going to be able to stay for Christmas. Her mother kept commenting about the dark circles under her eyes and questioned how hard she was working. Arizona kept her mouth shut about the real reason she didn't get much sleep the night before. There were some things that parents just didn't need to hear about. As soon as they got home from the airport, Barbara practically forced Arizona straight to bed so that she could get a decent night of sleep.

Arizona settled quickly into her home routine. She'd spend her mornings helping her mom bake for the Christmas holidays and her afternoons helping her dad with his projects. The evenings were spent at one of the various houses of her family members. Almost all of her aunts and uncles had also retired in the DC metro area so the Christmas holidays were one big family reunion for the Robbins family as cousins traveled from all over the world to spend the holidays together. Huge fights broke out over games of Monopoly, Scrabble and just about anything else that could be made into a competition. There was never a dull moment with the Robbins family.

Arizona's time in DC was flying by. She only had two days left before she had to head back to Seattle when she woke up to her cell phone ringing. She had been enjoying getting to sleep in while she was in DC and was not happy about the annoying ringing that had woken her up before her body was ready.

"Robbins," Arizona groaned into the receiver without even looking to see who was calling. She assumed it was the hospital because no one she knew would be calling her at such an early hour.

"Good morning," Alex greeted happily but winced when he heard the sleep-filled voice on the other end of the line. "Sorry I woke you up. I didn't think your military father let you sleep in. Wasting the day or something like that, you know." Alex recalled from his memory of the time the Robbins visited and stayed in their house. Daniel Robbins had Alex up and working as soon as the sun was shining in the sky.

"He's gone soft in his old age but you can wake me up whenever you want. I don't mind," Arizona made sure to turn on her sexy charm at the end of her sentence. Arizona smiled at hearing Alex's voice and curled up into her comforter on the bed. Even if she didn't want to be awake for another two hours, hearing Alex's voice made her melt. They had been texting a lot since she had been gone but the time change and Alex's work schedule had made it difficult for them to have a real phone conversation.

Alex could tell by her voice that she was slowly waking up. "I miss you. I hate sleeping alone."

"I miss you too. What are you doing up so early? The sun is barely up here on the East Coast so I know it isn't up over there."

"I was stupid and made my flight way too early in the morning," Alex explained as he tried to get comfortable in his chair while waiting at the gate in the airport.

Arizona tried to find the bright side for him, "At least that gives you more time with Amber and Lily."

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "How's DC?"

"It's good. It'd be better if you were here with me," Arizona flirted.

"Your dad does love me," Alex smiled to himself as he thought about how well they got along when the Robbins' visited over the summer. Daniel was impressed with all of the work Alex had done around the house and the two became fast friends as they bonded over drills, saws and the best way to turn Arizona's basement into livable space.

"He loves you only because he doesn't know about us."

Alex laughed, "Right. That does complicate things."

"Oh it most definitely does. I can imagine him flying out to Seattle just to threaten you and possibly punch you," Arizona shook her head as she tried not to think of how badly her dad might take the news that she was dating Alex. "How was everything while I was away?"

"It sucked," Alex said bluntly. He never was one to beat around the bush. "You're not allowed to leave again. The nurses thought that they were running the show since you were gone. Everything was a mess."

Arizona knew from Alex's texts that things hadn't been going well with her being gone but she didn't realize that it had gotten that bad. She cringed when she thought of all the work she would have to do to fix everything that had gotten messed up while she was away. It always took her at least one full day to fix things after returning from Malawi. "I'll set them straight when I get back. I'm sure the nurses were just getting payback for all the times you've made rude comments to them or stared at their breasts."

"I don't stare at their breasts! Not anymore at least. I only have eyes for yours," Alex defended as he watched the flight attendants arrive to start boarding. "I need to go. They're about to start boarding my flight," Alex said reluctantly, not wanting to have to say goodbye so soon.

Arizona frowned. She wanted to talk to Alex for awhile longer. After all, he did wake her up – he owed her more than a five minute conversation for taking her away from the great dream she had been having. She missed hearing his voice but she didn't want him to get into trouble for not turning off his phone like he was supposed to do. Flight attendants could get pissy about things like that. "Okay. Have a good flight. Give Amber and Lily my love. You did remember to pack my gifts for them, right?"

"I did. I had to check a bag because you insisted on buying Lily that huge thing."

"It's a dancing Elmo!" Arizona exclaimed like that explained it all. Arizona had forced Alex into going shopping with her for gifts for her long-term patients and when she saw the Elmo doll in the store she knew Lily would love it. "Lily is going to die when she sees it."

"The thing is bigger than she is! You're going to make me look bad with that thing. I'm pretty sure you're already Lily's favorite person but a dancing Elmo is going to cement it.

"I am tough to compete with, Alex. You're going to need to step up your game. I hate that I'm going to miss seeing her cute little face when she opens it up, though."

"How about I FaceTime you when she opens it? That way you don't have to completely miss out," Alex offered. Plus it gave him an excuse to video chat with Arizona. A week was too long to go without seeing her pretty smile.

"I'd really appreciate that. Thanks."

The flight attendant called Alex's boarding group and he knew he needed to end the conversation as much as he didn't want to do so. "I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, bye Alex."

"Bye," Alex said dejectedly as he still wanted but was unable to tell Arizona he loved her but he couldn't bring himself to say those words. Not until they'd had a real date at least. He didn't want to put his heart out there only to have it crushed if she realized that she just couldn't date a man.

Arizona flopped back in the bed after she hung up the phone with Alex. She missed him terribly and it hadn't even been a full week yet. She was slowly realizing how bad she had it for Alex. She felt like a lovesick teenager when they were on the phone together. After taking a moment to compose herself she decided to go ahead and get up for the day. She wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep after Alex got her heart pounding.

Arizona's sense of smell was overwhelmed as she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. Arizona found her parents sitting at the kitchen table enjoying what smelled like a delicious breakfast.

Arizona pointed to her father's plate full of bacon and syrup covered waffles, "Dad, you're going to give yourself a heart attack if you keep eating like this."

Daniel puffed out his chest, "I'll be fine, Arizona."

Arizona poured herself a cup of coffee and moved to sit at the table next to her parents. "I'm the doctor, Dad. I think I know a thing or two about this. Your arteries –"

Arizona was about to explain just what a high fat meal would do to his body when Daniel interrupted and promptly shut her up. "I had my yearly physical last month. The doc says I'm as fit now as I was when I retired ten years ago," Daniel explained as he filled an empty plate full of bacon and waffles for his daughter. "Eat up. It hasn't hurt me yet."

"You're up early, dear," Barbara remarked at seeing her daughter out of her bedroom before nine in the morning. Barbara had decided a change in subject was necessary before her daughter continued to talk about arteries, disease and other topics that would make her wish she hadn't eaten at all that morning.

"Guess my body's getting used to the time change," Arizona speculated as she picked up a piece of bacon. She didn't want to share the real reason she was woken up so early with her parents.

"So, Arizona, anyone special in your life?" Barbara asked as she sipped on her coffee.

"Moooom," Arizona whined as she almost spit out her own sip of coffee at her mom's question. She was actually surprised that the topic took almost her entire trip to come up. Her mom normally questioned her about her love life within minutes of arriving home. Arizona figured that her mom had finally given up on her daughter achieving love but it appeared that Barbara hadn't completely given up just yet.

Barbara Robbins simple shrugged her shoulders and continued to drink her coffee. "I'm just saying that we're not blind, Arizona. Your father and I have noticed that your cell phone is practically attached to your fingers. You're constantly texting someone on that thing. And I heard you on the phone this morning. You were practically giggling like a school girl and I have never known you to act like that unless you were in love. And you're smiling all the time. Not that I don't like to see you this happy but I know that there must be someone behind all of this happiness."

Arizona took a moment to debate the options in her head. She opened her mouth to dispute her mother's words but she couldn't lie to her parents. She was physically unable to do so. Her father could read her like a book and would know a lie the moment it came out of her mouth so she closed her mouth without saying a word.

"So what's her name?" Barbara asked as she watched her daughter across the table. "Is it someone we met this summer while we were there?"

Arizona sighed and picked up her cup of coffee. She quickly drained it of its contents. If she was going to have this conversation with her parents she needed to be fully caffeinated for it. "It is someone you've met," Arizona replied as she got up for a refill.

"So you are dating someone then? You have a girlfriend?" Daniel interrupted the conversation.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders and sat back down at the table. She chose to ignore the girlfriend question. "No… not really dating," Arizona fumbled over her words trying to find the right way to describe her budding relationship with Alex. "It's complicated. We're… exploring our feelings for each other."

"What does that mean, Zona?" Barbara asked.

"It means that they're just using each other for sex," Daniel informed his wife. He wasn't stupid. His daughter was in her mid-thirties. He knew that she had been having sex for a long time and there was no point beating around the bush about the topic with her. He knew that adults these days weren't so much looking for a soul mate but just looking for someone to sleep with. He was smart enough to know that if something was complicated then that means sex was involved.

"Dad!" Arizona exclaimed and her face promptly turned bright red. She was not used to talking about sex with her parents. It wasn't a subject that they were shy about talking about but only when it was absolutely necessary – like when giving her the sex talk as a teenager.

"It's not true?" Daniel glared at his daughter even as she wouldn't look up from her plate.

Arizona refused to make eye contact with her father when they were discussing sex; instead she stared at her plate and moved her uneaten bacon around. "No. It is. I mean…it's complicated. We're heading towards dating but it's just complicated."

"You've said that already, Arizona. So who is this person? It's not Callie, is it?" Daniel asked. "She was very lovely when we met her this summer but she's broken your heart one too many times for my liking. You deserve better."

"No," Arizona shook her head. "It's not Callie."

"Teddy then?" Barbara asked as she tried to remember all of the people she met at the hospital and the names of the people that Arizona talked about regularly.

Arizona had to stifle her laughter at her mother's choice of potential girlfriend for her. "No. Definitely not Teddy. Teddy is one hundred percent straight."

"Then who is it?' Barbara said exasperated.

"It's Alex," Arizona admitted, still avoiding eye contact with her parents.

"Alex?" Barbara repeated. "I don't remember meeting any Alex. The only Alex I know is your roommate."

Arizona finally met her mother's penetrating stare and bit her lip nervously. "Yeah, that would be the one."

"But Alex is a man, honey."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, mother. I told you it was complicated."

"Arizona, don't talk to your mother like that," Daniel scolded his daughter for her tone.

The three sat in silence at the kitchen table for several minutes before Barbara broke the silence. "Well, he is pretty cute. If you're going to go straight, you picked a good looking guy."

"Thanks… I guess," Arizona wasn't sure how to respond to that comment.

Daniel had gone quiet when his daughter said that she was dating or whatever it was she was doing with a man. It had taken him a long time to reconcile that his only daughter was a lesbian. He was the first person to admit that he was shocked at first but he knew that his daughter wasn't any different from the person she was the day before she came out to him. One part of her being a lesbian that he enjoyed was that he did not have to worry about boys – especially in her younger years. Boys were the devil to him. He wasn't a fan of boys because he knew exactly what his young brain was thinking when he was dating girls and he didn't want any boys thinking like that touching his daughter. His problem with boys was solved when Arizona came out as being a lesbian. But now, all of those old feelings about boys touching his daughter came surging back to the front of Daniel's mind. He wanted to wring Alex's neck, especially because he knew that he was having sex with his daughter, Arizona had all but admitted it earlier in the conversation. But instead of booking the first flight to Seattle to track this man down he took a few deep breaths and smiled at his daughter.

Daniel's hard face softened as he looked at his daughter, "Arizona, I love you. And I know you and I know that you wouldn't be even thinking about a man like this unless you had real feelings for him. As long as he makes you happy, I am happy for you. But the moment he doesn't make you happy anymore you let me know and I'll take care of him."

Arizona was surprised at her parents' easy acceptance of her news but she should have known better than to think that they would react poorly. When she came out to them she was prepared for the worst but instead was given nothing but acceptance; she should have realized they would do the same with the current situation. She did know that once her parents had time to digest the information fully then they would have tons of questions for her just like they did before but she would answer them honestly just like she did when she came out.

Arizona gently reached out and rested her hand on her father's, "Thanks Dad. I really do like him."

Barbara had gotten over the immediate shock of the announcement and had moved onto another topic she had been prepared to harass her daughter about while she was visiting – grandchildren. "So, does this mean I might get some grandbabies sooner rather than later?"

"Moooom," Arizona whined again. While she might have shared the news about her relationship with Alex there was no way she was going to talk to her parents about her recent investigations and subsequent doctor appointments into artificial insemination – something that she was starting to question if she should put on hold if things with Alex were going to continue to go well. "Cart before the horse! Alex and I haven't even had a real date yet."

"Your father and I aren't getting any younger Arizona and we'd really like to be able to actually be active with our grandchildren; not just have them visit us in a nursing home. And with Tim gone, you're our only hope. So could you see yourself having babies with Alex?"

Arizona glared at her mother for having the nerve to pull the dead child card on her to get grandchildren. Her glare softened as she realized that she could picture having kids with Alex. She had been picturing kids with Alex since Lily came into their lives earlier in the year. "Mom, I promise you will get some grandbabies. One way or another."

"Soon?" Barbara pressed.

Arizona rolled her eyes but nodded her head up and down, "I'll see what I can do for you."

Daniel kept his mouth shut during the grandchildren conversation. While he really wanted grandchildren, now that Arizona was with a man he knew that the process of getting pregnant would not involve a medical procedure but was instead sexual and he did not want to think about his daughter being with a man.

"Let's keep this between us though," Arizona gently said as she made eye contact with each of her parents. They had a big family dinner that night and she could just see her mother telling everyone about her lifestyle change. "I'd like to actually go on a proper date with a man before the entire family knows this news. I'd rather not have to deal with all of the sexuality questions from all of the cousins this trip."

"Of course, dear," Daniel said as he stood to clear his plate. "Now, how about you go get changed and then you can help me chop some firewood before your mom steals you for last minute shopping at the mall. I've been to war but I refuse to go to the mall this close to Christmas so you two are on your own for that."

"Yes, sir," Arizona replied. She was just as eager to get out of the kitchen and away from the topic of her sexuality as she was sure that her dad was.

**…**

Arizona was pleasantly surprised that working Christmas day didn't totally suck like she thought it would. She wished she was in DC with her family but being in Seattle wasn't all bad. Plus, her parents held Christmas the day before she left to return to Seattle complete with turkey and all so she felt like she had already done Christmas and it was really just another day at work for her. It turned out that she wasn't the only one that got screwed with working the holiday – Teddy, Callie and Bailey did too. It was a slow day. There were no scheduled or elective surgeries. The only job for the surgeons to do was to supervise the residents who were keeping an eye on the post-op and pre-op patients on their wards and dealing with any surgical emergencies that would come into the emergency room.

Arizona spent her morning making the rounds of her patients. The department was able to raise enough money to purchase gifts for the children on the ward. Arizona loved getting to play Santa for the kids. Many of the kids weren't going to receive gifts from their parents because of their high medical bills so seeing Arizona come into the room with a red Santa hat and a bag full of toys made their day. And seeing the smiles on the kids' faces as she delivered toys that Santa had left just for them more than made up for not being able to be with her family that Christmas morning.

After they made their morning rounds Callie, Bailey, Arizona and Teddy migrated to the Attendings' Lounge to partake in a day of movies and junk food.

"Who picked out the movie?" Bailey asked the group when the opening scenes of Bridesmaids displayed on the television.

"Teddy," Arizona answered.

"Not very Christmasy," Bailey huffed under her breath as she glared at Teddy.

"That's what I said," Arizona agreed while Teddy was rolling her eyes next to her on the couch. "I offered to bring in my collection of Christmas movies."

"Not all of us drown ourselves in holiday cheer, Robbins. I figured we could all do with a funny movie today," Teddy explained her choice.

Callie stole a box of junior mints from Teddy's hand, "I don't care what we watch as long as you keep the chocolate coming."

They had made it through half of the movie when they decided to pause it so that they could have lunch. They wanted to eat before they sat through the food poisoning scene knowing that it would make them lose their appetites. As they were set to head down to the cafeteria Bailey declared that Christmas warranted better food than what they served at the hospital – even if that better food was just takeout from the Chinese restaurant around the block.

They took the time while they were waiting for the food to catch up on everyone's lives. Everyone had been so busy doing their own thing that fall that they didn't have as much time to hang out as friends like they used to – most of their time together was spent as colleagues instead of friends. Callie was in the middle of updating the girls about her cartilage research and the conference she had just attended in Los Angeles when Arizona's phone rang and the screen lit up with a picture of Alex. A smile formed on her face without even realizing it but the rest of her companions did notice it. "Hey," Arizona perkily greeted him, very happy to get to hear his voice that Christmas day.

"Merry Christmas," Alex greeted Arizona over the phone. Lily had woken up at seven in the morning but he figured he'd wait until mid-day to call Arizona to make sure she had time to finish her rounds.

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

Alex could tell that Arizona wasn't being as personable as she normally was on the phone. With just a few words, he could tell she was being distant. It was what she wasn't saying that made him realize that she must with others. "Are you alone?"

"Nope," Arizona answered not wanting to give away who she was talking to to the people she knew were eavesdropping on her conversation. They didn't even try to pretend not to listen as all three women were staring at her as she talked on the phone waiting for her to end her conversation so that they could get back to their gabbing.

"Can you go somewhere?"

Arizona smiled and nodded her head even though Alex couldn't see her, "Sure thing." Arizona got up off the couch and nodded to her phone to her co-workers. "I'll be right back. Don't eat all of my orange chicken – I'm looking at you, Altman."

"Better?" Alex asked as he thought he heard a door click over the phone.

"Yeah," Arizona answered and leaned against the empty nurses' station across the hall from the Lounge. "I've only got a few minutes. We just ordered lunch and it'll be here soon. So tell me how was Lily's Christmas? Did she open Elmo yet?"

"Santa definitely spoiled her. She loves the ladybug pillow pet I got for her but I think that's just because she hasn't opened your Elmo yet. I wanted to wait for you to be free to have her open it."

Arizona frowned. She definitely didn't have time to video chat at the moment. "Maybe after y'all eat dinner? I'll be done with evening rounds and I planned on just catching up on paperwork in my office so I'll be free."

"That sounds good. How is your Christmas? I thought I heard talking in the background earlier," Alex wanted to make sure that Arizona's holiday was good even if she was stuck at work.

"It's actually better than I though it'd be," Arizona said as she played with a piece of paper on the counter. "I made an awesome Santa this morning for the kids and now Bailey, Teddy, Callie and I are hanging out until evening rounds."

Alex smiled, "I'm glad you're having a good time."

"It'd be even better if you were here."

Alex's smile got even wider as Arizona told him that she missed him, "Mine would be too. But I'll be home tomorrow night and make it up to you."

"You better," Arizona laughed at the obvious hidden meaning of his words as she turned back around so that she was facing the lounge. She smelled the food coming down the hall with the delivery man. "Crap, our food is here so I better go before Teddy steals all the good stuff."

"Okay," Alex said sadly as he could talk to Arizona forever. They hadn't really gotten to talk for more than five minutes at a time since Arizona left for DC. When they were used to seeing each other at work and at home, five minutes wasn't cutting it for either of them. "I'll message you some of the good pictures of Lily from this morning."

Arizona decided that she could keep the rest of the conversation clean so she went ahead and walked back into the lounge while she was still talking to Alex. She knew that Bailey would want her money for the food so she needed to get back in there anyway. "That'd be great," she said as she pulled a twenty from her purse that was sitting on the couch and handed it to Bailey.

"I'll FaceTime you later with Lily."

"Awesome. I'll talk to you later tonight then."

"Bye," Alex said right before hitting end on his phone.

Arizona waited to hear Alex say goodbye before pulling the phone from her ear and stuffing it back into the pocket in her lab coat. When she looked up from her phone she had six eyes staring at her like she had two heads.

"Who was that?" Teddy asked.

Arizona tried to hide her smile from her friends but she couldn't wipe it off of her face, "No one."

"_No one_ does not make you smile like that Robbins," Bailey told her as she waved her pointer finger at her mouth.

Callie agreed, "Yeah. _No one_ on the phone doesn't mean that you need to go out into the hallway to talk to them."

Arizona just shrugged her shoulders at her friends, "_No one_ is none of your business." They could tease her all they wanted but they weren't going to get any information out of her. She chose to instead turn toward the bag of food and start passing out items to those who ordered them.

"So there is _someone_," Teddy commented as she grabbed her container of broccoli and rice.

"Nope, there is _no one_," Arizona was frustrated. She hated not being able to share the details about her blossoming romance with her friends. She hated that she felt so insecure about being in a relationship with a man that she couldn't share that with her friends. But they technically hadn't even gone on a date yet let alone her having reconciled her feelings about being with a man. For some reason she had no problem just having sex with a man but bringing in the emotional side of the relationship made her uneasy. It made it real. It made it more than just sex and fun. It made it a relationship. So until she was one hundred percent comfortable with everything, her feelings about Alex were going to stay between her and Alex.

Teddy started to tease Arizona again but was caught off guard by Bailey, Arizona's saving grace from the teasing. "Let her be. When she's ready to share, she will."

"Thank you, Bailey," Arizona smiled as she took a bite of her chicken.

Teddy shook Bailey off. She wasn't ready to stop the harassment of Arizona just yet. Arizona always teased her about her recent dating life so it was only fair. "Is this _no one_ going to… um, put a pause on… things?"

"What things?" Arizona looked at her best female friend confused.

Teddy lowered her voice and looked around to see Callie and Bailey gossiping on the other couch, not paying any attention to them, "Sperm things."

"Teddy!" Arizona gasped and looked to make sure that the others in the room hadn't heard her. Thankfully they hadn't. Besides Alex, Teddy was the only one she had spoken to about wanting to start a family via artificial insemination and she didn't want more people to know about it while things were still up in the air.

"Sorry," Teddy apologized sincerely and continued to keep her voice low. "I'm just curious and I never get to talk to you these days. You're always busy with work or in Malawi or with Karev."

Arizona rolled her eyes but felt a pang of guilt when Teddy brought up that they hadn't spent much time together but Arizona couldn't tell Teddy just why she spent all of her free time with Karev.

"So what is the sperm status?" Teddy said softly.

"I don't know," Arizona answered honestly as she picked at her food. She was truly confused about the next steps she would take. Alex was an interesting road block to the process. Ever since she brought up the topic with Alex he had been nothing but supportive of her choice and even spent time going through sperm donor catalogs with her. She could tell that he was holding back but he didn't once offer his own sperm to her and he always made sure to use a condom when they were together. She wasn't sure if that was just because he didn't want to put himself out there like that or that he didn't want to be her child's father. She had been planning on trying to get pregnant in a few months, as soon as her triathlon was over, but she wasn't sure that she was going to stay with that plan in light of what could be an emerging relationship with Alex. She wasn't sure if she should go ahead with using another man's sperm to create a baby when she was with another man. She wasn't sure if she should ask Alex about using his own sperm. She was all around confused but the one thing she knew for sure was that she did want a baby and she didn't want to wait around forever.

"You sounded so sure the last time we spoke about it."

Arizona slouched against the couch, "My life has just gotten… complicated recently. So things are a bit up in the air. But I'm not getting any younger and my parents made it very clear last week that they want grandchildren, like yesterday."

"Complicated because of this _no one_?" Teddy asked still making sure that Bailey and Callie weren't listening. Bailey was sharing pictures of Tuck on her cell phone so she knew that they still had some time to talk alone.

"Possibly," Arizona said. "Because _no one_ could become _someone_."

Teddy threw her hands up in the air, "You are a mess, Robbins."

"Thanks, Teds. Appreciate the support," Arizona reached out and mockingly patted her best friend on the back. After hearing Arizona's mocking tone, Bailey and Callie looked up to see what the two were talking about.

"You still giving Arizona a hard time about her love life?" Callie asked Teddy as she grabbed another container of food.

Arizona shook her head positively, "But yeah, let's move on from that topic. Enough about my complicated life because I'm looking at three single ladies working on Christmas. Y'all need to get _someone _in y'all's lives too."

All three women started looking at each other. None of them wanted their love lives investigated. Callie remained silent which meant that she had something to hide when it came to relationship talk and Teddy just reminded everyone that she worked too much to maintain a relationship which is why her marriage to Henry worked so well – because he was always in the hospital so it was easy to see him but then he had to go and die. Bailey demanded that they turn the movie back on so that she could avoid interrogation about her on again/off again relationship with Ben. Bailey got her way and they were able to finish the movie and their lunch before any of them was paged away.

**…**

Arizona headed straight for her bedroom as soon as she got home from work. She had planned on cleaning the house that afternoon but she was exhausted and house cleaning was going to have to wait another day. Arizona didn't even bother changing clothes. She simply stripped off her top and pants as she made her way up the stairs so that she was ready to crawl into bed as soon as she pushed the door to her bedroom open.

While Christmas might have been a slow day at work, the day after Christmas was anything but slow. Arizona was only scheduled to work until noon but she was stuck in surgery removing marbles from a little boy's stomach until the early evening. After over forty-eight hours at the hospital, her own bed felt like heaven as she curled up in the comforter and cocooned herself to keep out the chilly winter air.

She was having a pleasant dream when she felt a rush of cold air invade her senses, strong arms wrap around her waist and a familiar stubbly cheek nuzzle into her neck.

"Mmm," Arizona moaned as her mind transitioned from dreamland to reality. "You're home," she whispered without opening her eyes, her voice still full of sleep. She knew there could only be one person crawling into her bed that late at night.

"I am," Alex nodded as he placed a kiss on her neck.

Arizona pulled Alex's arms tighter around her body as she tried to hang onto sleep, "How was the rest of your trip?"

Alex rubbed his hands up and down Arizona's side. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she was only wearing her bra and panties to bed. "It was good but I'm glad to be home."

Arizona turned in Alex's arms and placed a much longed for kiss on his lips. "Me too," she murmured against his lips as she pulled away before continuing to kiss him and welcome him home.

After several minutes of making out, Alex pulled away for some air. "I've got something for you from Lily. She made me promise to give it to you as soon as I got home."

Arizona tugged Alex back into her body. She let her hands wander all over Alex's body. "Later. I have something else on my mind right now."

Alex grabbed Arizona's hands that were on his ass and moved to hold them between their bodies.

"What –?" Arizona started to complain before Alex released one of her hands to silence her with a finger against her lips.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Alex rolled his eyes at himself. "But we can't have sex anymore."

Arizona cocked her head at the man; obviously she hadn't heard him correctly as she had never had anyone turn down sex with her. "What was that? Cuz I think I need my ears checked."

Alex rolled over so that he was on his back staring at the ceiling. Arizona looked down at him curiously. She obviously wanted an explanation.

Alex locked his eyes on hers, "I've been thinking."

"I see the problem here."

Alex ignored her snarky comment and continued, "If we're going to do this whole dating thing then we can't sleep together. As of now we're dating and we haven't even had a first date yet – so no sex because you are not some girl I picked up at a bar because I needed to get off that night."

Arizona understood what he was saying. That if they were going to do the dating thing then they were going to do it right but that didn't mean that she liked the idea. It had been over a week and a half since they had slept together and she had really been looking forward to sleeping with him. She never thought she would say it but sex with Alex, a man, was addicting and she wanted him. She knew how hard it would be and how much it was going to suck until they were able to have sex again. Arizona leaned down so that she was whispering in Alex's ear, "Just so you know, I don't have sex on the first date. Or the second."

Alex enjoyed the feeling of Arizona's hot mouth on his ear but it was too much for his libido so he moved out of the range of Arizona's tongue. "That's just more reason to make this date happen as soon as possible."

"You're the one who asked me out, so you better get on it."

Alex pulled Arizona back on top of him. Just because they weren't having sex didn't mean that they couldn't touch. "I'm working on it. It's not easy with our crazy work schedules and the holidays. But I'll figure it out."

Arizona yawned against Alex's chest. "Let me know if I need to finesse the schedule so that we're both off."

Alex could tell that Arizona was getting sleepy again as he ran his hands up and down her back soothing her back to dreamland. It was almost midnight and she had just worked forty-eight hours straight so she deserved some sleep. "Go to sleep, Zo."

Arizona was almost asleep when she realized that Alex was still in her bed. "You're staying here? What about the rules?"

"Sleeping is okay. But _sleeping_ is not," Alex explained with an eyebrow wiggle that even in the dark Arizona knew he was doing as he placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Mmm, good," Arizona murmured as her eyelids closed.

Alex smiled and let his own eyes close for the night. He knew he would have good dreams that night. He had his best friend who also happened to be the girl he loved sleeping in his arms. He felt like they were finally on their way toward happiness together even if it was a long road ahead. It was the first time in a long time that he let himself think about having a future with a woman and that thought alone made him incredibly happy. But before they could start down that road, they'd first need to go out on a date.

**…**


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The week between Christmas and New Years is constantly always one of the busiest at Seattle Grace – Mercy West. Each doctor has their own opinion about why it is such a busy time of year. Some blame the winter weather for more car accidents. Others blame people getting new gifts and not knowing how to use them properly. But for whatever the reason, the doctors had their work cut out for them between Christmas and New Years.

After a very busy week of practically living at the hospital, Arizona found it odd that New Year's Eve had been relatively calm. It was ten at night and she was actually bored because she had nothing to do. The weather was unseasonably warm and dry so she hoped that the better conditions would lead to less car accidents that night; drunk driving and cold, slippery roads were never a good combination.

"Hey," Arizona greeted Alex as he stood writing on the surgical board.

Alex stopped writing on the board and turned around when he heard her voice, "Hey."

"What's going on?"

"Emergency appy on a four year old."

Arizona was bored and tired of twiddling her thumbs. She didn't know how Alex found an appendectomy when she herself had just checked the ER, "Need any help?"

"Oh no, this surgery is mine Robbins," Alex had spent an hour trolling the pit for surgeries and he wasn't about to let this one go even if it was to Arizona.

"I'll assist. I'll do the grunt work."

"Are you that bored that you want to assist on an appendectomy?"

Arizona's head hung low and she stuffed her hands into her lab coat pockets, "Yes."

Alex turned back around to finish writing in his surgery for OR 3. "You could have had the night off, you know. You worked Christmas."

"Would you rather I took off and went to some bar on New Year's Eve?" Arizona asked as they started walking toward the scrub room. While Arizona would have loved to have the night off, she knew that Alex had to work and she would rather spend New Years Eve with Alex at work than be alone.

Alex held the scrub room door open for Arizona. When he saw that they were alone he was able to speak freely. "Of course not but I don't want my selfishness to keep you here."

Arizona pulled open a sponge and started to scrub, "Well good thing that I would much rather be here than at a bar. The company is far superior here."

Alex glanced at the clock in the operating room noticing that it was a little past ten. "Hopefully we finish in time so we can celebrate somewhere a little more private."

"And there aren't any other emergencies," Arizona added. She wanted nothing more than to share a New Year's kiss with Alex but she had resigned herself to that probably not happening; at least nothing more than a kiss on the cheek in front of their friends and coworkers. She held out a little hope that the stars would align and everything would be quiet around midnight so that they could sneak off together.

Alex pushed the door to the operating room open with his back, letting Arizona walk into the room past him. Alex immediately went into surgeon mode and was ready to begin. The sooner he got started the sooner he could finish. Halfway into the surgery Arizona was paged away for an incoming trauma. Before she left she shared a look of disappointment with Alex. They both knew that their chances of being together at midnight had just gotten slimmer.

After updating the child's parents after finishing the appendectomy Alex went in search of Arizona. His first stop was the surgical board to see if the trauma she was paged to had required her to go into surgery. She wasn't on the board so he decided to venture down to the emergency room to see if she was still there treating the patient. She wasn't there either. He glanced at his watch. It was eleven-thirty. He headed back up to the surgical floor to check for Arizona again when he heard her laughter coming from the Attendings' Lounge. He pushed in the door to the lounge and it seemed like everyone else on duty that night was having an easy day as well because everyone was in the lounge. New Years Eve had almost every doctor on duty so everyone had congregated to ring in the New Year together since there wasn't much work to be done.

Cristina and April made room for Alex to sit next to them on their couch when he walked into the lounge.

"How was the rest of the appy?" Arizona asked from her seat next to Teddy and Callie.

"Good," Alex answered. "How was your trauma?"

Arizona waved her hand in the air, "Nothing surgical."

Alex glanced at his watch again and the two shared another knowing look before getting brought back into the group's conversation. Everyone was going over their resolutions for the upcoming year. Arizona wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. She was trying to figure out how to get her and Alex out of the lounge without garnering too much attention.

"Robbins!" Mark's loud voice drew her out of her own mind.

"Huh?" Arizona asked as she looked toward Mark.

Callie could tell Arizona hadn't been paying attention and was confused. "Your New Year's resolution? It's your turn to share."

"Oh! I don't know." Arizona said as she started to think. She really hadn't given much thought to resolutions. She thought they were silly. People never kept up with them and they were likely forgotten by March.

"You must have something, Roller-Girl," Cristina prodded.

"Hmm," Arizona was still considering possibilities. "To run a sub fourteen hour triathlon. And to spend less time worrying, more time living." Only Alex would understand just what she needed to spend less time worrying about. One of her biggest issues with being with Alex was worrying about what people would think of her and how they would react. "Oh! And to finally finish all renovations on the house," Arizona added as an afterthought.

"Those are boring," Cristina sighed after not getting any juicier answers like she wanted.

"What's yours then?" Arizona asked the cardio surgeon.

"To win the Harper Avery," Cristina said bluntly.

Arizona rolled her eyes.

"What else would you expect from me?" Cristina asked rhetorically. "Karev, your turn."

"I don't know," Alex stalled for time. He never thought about resolutions. He didn't need to lose weight or quit smoking and he didn't know what else there was to resolutions besides those type of things.

"I know the perfect one for you!" Cristina interrupted him. "To get a girlfriend. It's been awhile since you had one of those."

Alex rolled his eyes at his friend. If only she knew. He decided to go the professional route, "To continue to improve on the work Arizona and I are doing in Malawi."

"And…" Cristina led him on.

"And I think I'm going to give up soda too," Alex said causing the rest of the group to snicker at Cristina when he refused to put getting a girlfriend on his list of resolutions.

The conversation soon turned to Karev's misfortune in dating. Arizona felt sorry for him as he sat and listened to everyone go over all of his failed relationships and his history of sleeping with the nurses. They even brought up the syphilis breakout of their intern year. Watching Alex squirm made her realize that he truly was a great guy to wait for her; most guys wouldn't do that. She knew it was her fault that people didn't know about them but she wasn't ready to open herself up to that. The gossip would be insane when the news about her and Alex would come out and Arizona just couldn't deal with that just yet. She was working on that, which is why she made it one of her resolutions, but she wasn't there yet.

Arizona knew it must be getting close to midnight because Callie had pulled out a bottle of juice, since they couldn't drink on the job, and started pouring celebratory cups for everyone to toast with at midnight. While everyone was busy putting on their party hats, Arizona was able to use her cell phone to send a quick page to both her and Alex's pagers.

The beeping that filled the room immediately sent every doctor to check their own pagers. Everyone let out a sigh of relief when they realized it wasn't their pager going off. They didn't want to leave the party to have to work. Alex let out a legitimate groan when he pulled his pager off of his scrub pants. He didn't know that the page was a fake one.

"It's us," Arizona said as she took off her party hat and threw it on the couch behind her. "Come on Karev, let's go. Happy New Year everyone."

Everyone else relayed their "Happy New Year" sentiments to the pair of pediatric surgeons that were leaving the lounge. They were all just happy that it wasn't them that had been summoned to work.

As soon as they left the lounge, Alex started heading for the elevator to take him down to the emergency room. He wasn't paying attention when Arizona hit the button on the elevator to go up instead of down. He fully expected to be on the first floor of the hospital, just outside the emergency room, when the doors to the elevator opened but instead he was on the roof of the hospital.

He turned to look at Arizona who just smirked at him. "I thought we had a trauma in the pit?"

Arizona shook her head and took his hand to lead him out to the side of the roof that overlooked the Space Needle. "Nope. I sent that page." Arizona looped her arms around Alex's neck and placed a quick peck on his lips. "Had to get you alone before midnight somehow."

"Just in time, too," Alex said as he could hear the thirty second countdown start from the celebrations at Seattle Center around the base of the Space Needle.

As the seconds counted down, Alex drew Arizona impossibly closer to his body. They could hear the tens of thousands of people who were in downtown Seattle celebrating as they got closer to the New Year. As the countdown reached zero and the fireworks erupted from Lake Union, Alex leaned down and captured Arizona's lips in a searing kiss. All the noises from the fireworks and people drifted away as they paid no attention to the celebration going on around them and got lost in each other.

When the need to breathe finally overwhelmed them, they broke apart and Alex wrapped Arizona up from behind so they could watch the rest of the fireworks show that the city of Seattle was putting on. Alex didn't like to admit it but he had really wanted to be with Arizona as the clock struck midnight. He had never been able to be with someone special on New Year's Eve. He wasn't sure if he believed in the wives' tale about the person that you are with at midnight is the one that you'll spend the year with but he was hoping that it was true.

Alex leaned down and started placing kisses up and down Arizona's neck, stopping at her ear to whisper, "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," Arizona said as she turned in Alex's arms. The two resumed kissing, unable to keep their lips and tongues off of each other for long.

"Mmm, god I want you," Alex whispered as he nibbled on Arizona's ear.

Arizona laughed softly. She wanted him too but they still hadn't had time to go out on a date yet let alone enough dates to make sex appropriate for their new dating situation. Arizona tilted her neck to allow Alex more room to work his magic with his lips, "You're the one that made the rule."

"It's a good rule," Alex said between open mouth kisses on Arizona's neck.

Arizona's body was on fire and she didn't know if she could take much more. Arizona never broke rules. She hated the possibility of getting into trouble so she simply followed the rules so that she was never in that position. It was just another side effect of her military father and how she was raised. But this particular rule she didn't care for at all – especially on New Year's Eve. "Alex, maybe we could break the rule? Just this once?"

Alex moaned as he made his way back north up Arizona's body toward her ear. "But you like rules. You're a stickler for rules," he murmured against her lips as Arizona tugged his body closer to hers.

Arizona moaned. She could feel Alex's body against her. Scrubs don't hide much and she could tell just how much Alex wanted her too. "I do like rules. But you don't. You're always breaking my rules. Especially my rules at work. And this would break a lot of my work rules."

Arizona took a chance to play with his earlobe with her tongue, one of Alex's biggest turn-ons. She hoped it would do the trick. "Maybe just this once…" Alex said as his lips met hers again.

"Just this once," Arizona agreed when they broke the kiss. "And then you have to take me on a real date."

Alex grabbed Arizona's hand and pulled them to the wall of one of the barriers on the roof. It was in the shadows and away from the lights of the Space Needle. It was the most privacy they could have on the roof and Alex knew they would never be able to get to Arizona's office without interruptions. Alex pushed Arizona's back against the barrier as he let his hands roam along her backside, pulling her scrub pants down. "I tried to take you out on a date two days ago," Alex explained as he sucked on her neck and his fingers traveled down and dipped into her underwear. "You're the one that got called into work, ruining all of my plans for the evening."

Arizona returned the favor and started pushing Alex's pants down as well. She had never been very adventurous about sex in public but that was just another rule that Alex was making her want to break. "I'm sorry that my saving a five-year-old's life ruined your plans," Arizona teased as she felt Alex slip his hands up her scrub top and release the clasp on her bra. "Oh that's good," she sighed when he finally touched her. After over two weeks without, her body was aching for his touch.

Alex moaned when his hands met the flesh of Arizona's breasts, "Next week, I promise a real date."

After they both found release on the roof, they moved back to the part of the roof that was overlooking the New Year celebration that was still going strong down on the Seattle streets.

"That was hot," Arizona commented as she rested her head against Alex's shoulder.

Alex pressed a kiss to her temple as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "I think hot is an understatement for what that just was."

"You're a bad influence on me, Karev. You have me breaking all of my rules. Even rules that aren't my rules."

"I didn't hear you complaining five minutes ago."

"2013 is going to be a good year," Arizona said as she lifted her head to look in Alex's eyes.

Alex leaned down for a kiss. This kiss wasn't full of passion and fire like the others had been earlier in the night. This was a kiss of love. "Yeah, it is."

Arizona played with Alex's hand that she was holding, "We should probably get back before people start to wonder where we are at – especially if it is still as dead as it was earlier."

Alex pulled Arizona to her feet, "Yeah. All of a sudden I'm pretty tired. I hope I can squeeze in a nap." Alex wished that he could take a nap in an on-call room with Arizona but he knew that Arizona was still processing and dealing. And they couldn't be seen going into or out of an on-call room together. He was hoping that after a few real dates she would be ready to go public with their relationship but until then he was content with what they had.

"Jealous," Arizona said as they entered the elevator. "I think I'm going to catch up on paperwork." Arizona nudged Alex's hip with hers, "And make sure that we're both off one day this week."

"With no pagers?" Alex asked. He knew that their jobs required them to be available almost all of the time but he really wanted one uninterrupted night with Arizona so that he could take her on the date that she deserved.

Arizona felt the elevator come to a stop, signaling that they had arrived on the peds floor. She quickly stole a kiss from Alex's lips. She had meant for it to be a quick kiss but it quickly got steamier. Just as the doors started to open Arizona pulled away from him. "With no pagers," she smirked as she left him dumbfounded in the elevator.

Alex almost forgot to get off the elevator after Arizona rocked his world with a simple kiss. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he made his way down to his favorite on-call room. He hoped that he could calm the thoughts in his head long enough to get a few hours of sleep.

**…**

"Good morning," Arizona perkily greeted Teddy as they waited in line for coffee. Since Christmas, Arizona had been making a more concerted effort to spend time with her other best friend. She knew that she had been a poor friend lately but it was time to change that.

Teddy looked like she had just woken up or not slept at all. She let out a grunt in response to Arizona's overly-happy greeting for six in the morning.

"Rough night?" Arizona asked while Teddy remained speechless.

Teddy shrugged her shoulders, "You know I'm not a morning person. I don't get how you can be so cheerful at this hour."

"Just another thing I chalk up to my father," Arizona smiled. "Wait a minute – how did you survive the Army and four am wakeups?"

Teddy moved up in line and ordered and paid for her drink before turning back to Arizona, "Coffee. Lots of coffee." After taking a much anticipated first sip of her beverage it was like her mind was suddenly working again. "That's good," she said to herself as she took another sip. "Hey, what happened to you last night? You disappeared after you left the lounge. I didn't hear about anything major coming in over night. You missed out on a very entertaining game of Monopoly with Derek and Owen teaming up to bankrupt Meredith and Cristina."

Arizona quickly paid for her coffee and followed Teddy to a nearby table. "Nothing major. I just went back to my office and did some paperwork before falling asleep on my couch for the night." Arizona hoped Teddy wouldn't know that she was lying.

"On New Year's Eve? Even I'm not a workaholic like that," Teddy commented on her friend's behavior. "Plus you also missed the New Years kisses."

"Oh? Anything scandalous?"

"Well, Grey kissed Yang. Before she kissed Derek. Apparently Cristina and Owen are still on the outs and Derek is taking Owen's side so they're both being shunned. If it weren't for the adoption that isn't finalized yet I think Meredith would kick Derek out of the house in solidarity."

"Nice," Arizona smiled.

Teddy laughed, "I'm pretty sure there might have even been some tongue involved. Maybe you have two more to add to your team?"

Arizona coughed on her coffee, "You know I always wondered about Grey but Yang – no way."

"So I took pity and kissed Owen since he was like the poor red-headed step-child, literally."

Arizona raised her eyebrows, "Really? Was that smart after everything that never got to happen with you two?"

"Probably not but I got caught up in the moment. As did Callie and Mark who practically made out and then they both disappeared the rest of the night as well like you and Karev did except I'm pretty sure they were doing dirty things."

"Could have called that one happening again a year ago," Arizona mused not affected at all by hearing about Callie and Mark hooking up again.

"And you still picked doing work over hanging out with us."

"Well I'd rather get it done on a slow day then have to stay late or come in on my day off," Arizona explained. "Life doesn't revolve around this hospital as much as most of us think it does." The more she got done while she was scheduled the less chance she had of something ruining her future date nights with Alex.

Teddy could tell there was something going on with her friend that she wasn't sharing. She knew something had been going on with Arizona for months but she couldn't get her friend to open up to her. "You know you can tell me anything, right Arizona?"

"I know. I'm good, Teddy." Arizona hated to see the concerned look on Teddy's face. She had thought about opening up to her but the unknown of how Teddy would react kept her from doing so. Plus, they were in the hospital cafeteria which was a known breeding ground for gossip. There was no way Arizona was going to confide something that important where it could easily be overheard and spread around like wildfire.

"You sure? You know you can talk to me? I bet I can give a much different perspective on things that Karev can. You know boys only think with their head and not the one attached to their necks."

Arizona giggled and patted Teddy's hand, "I'm great. Really great. Honestly. I haven't been this great in a long time."

"So has this _no one_ become _someone_ yet?" Teddy asked knowing that the only reason Arizona would be so giggly was because of a relationship.

Arizona blushed but shook her head no, "Not yet. Timing hasn't exactly been on our side recently."

"Who is this mystery woman, Arizona?" Teddy's interest was piqued by the mystery so she decided to flat out ask.

"Teddy, I promise you'll be the first person I tell," Arizona said hoping to satisfy her best friend.

"It's someone I know, right?" Teddy deduced. "That's why you're so mysterious!"

"Teddy," Arizona growled. "When there is something to tell, I will tell you."

Teddy knew that when Arizona got upset and avoided the question that she had stumbled on something about Arizona's mysterious love life. She wisely dropped the subject before she pushed Arizona too far but as she and Arizona chit-chatted about the other hospital gossip Teddy couldn't help but mentally go over hospital employees, trying to think of who was gay and a possible love interest for Arizona.

**…**

Arizona watched as Alex's fingers flew across the keyboard in the research library at the hospital. He hadn't realized she was leaning against the doorway yet so he was hard at work on his latest research paper about Malawi. After a few seconds of staring at him, Alex suddenly turned and smiled.

"I thought I smelled you," Alex said with a nod of his head, gesturing Arizona to come closer to him.

Arizona sniffed herself, "Do I really smell that bad?"

"No," Alex laughed. "You smell like you. Citrusy with a hint of antiseptic like you just got out of surgery."

"And that's a good smell?" Arizona asked self-consciously.

"Very good smell."

Arizona let her hands reach out and skim over Alex's, "So I'm on my way home. We're still on for tonight?"

Alex reached out to lace their fingers together. The research library was dead on a Friday afternoon and at a deserted end of a hallway so he knew they were safe. "Yep. I'll be off at four whether it kills me or not. I've already done turn over with Sears so I won't be paged into any more surgeries today. We are going on this date."

"Third time's the charm?" Arizona asked referencing the two previous failed attempts at a first date. The first time Arizona got paged in just as they were headed to the car and the second time Alex got stuck in a surgery that was more complicated than it appeared causing him to have to cancel as he was stuck at the hospital.

"Definitely," Alex said as he looked around and made sure that no one was in the hallway. He leaned up out of his chair and snuck a kiss from Arizona. "At this rate it will be Valentine's Day before our third date so we are making tonight work no matter what."

"It will," Arizona smiled as she squeezed his hand before releasing it. "I'll see you at home."

"You sure you don't want to take my Jeep instead of your bicycle?" Alex asked. He asked Arizona daily if he could give her a ride to or from work but she always refused unless it was an emergency. He didn't understand her craziness and looked forward to the triathlon being over so that he didn't have to worry about her riding her bicycle in the rain on the busy and slick Seattle roads.

"I'll be fine," Arizona rolled her eyes but deep down she appreciated Alex's concern for her well-being. "It's only ten miles to our house. It takes basically the same time for me to bike as it does for you to drive because of the stop and go rush hour traffic that you'll be stuck in come four o'clock."

"Yeah, yeah," Alex waved off her rationality and truth. "I'll see you at home."

Arizona looked around the empty library and the hallway one more time before stealing another kiss and heading home.

Six hours later Alex was holding open the door to his Jeep for Arizona. For their third attempt at a first date they had already made it further than they had the first two times. Alex smiled as he helped Arizona into the car. She looked perfect. He had given her instructions to dress casual and she did but she turned the sexy up a notch and it did not disappoint. She put on the perfect pair of dark wash skinny jeans that hugged her body in all the right places and paired it with a deep purple v-neck t-shirt and a pair of riding boots that drove him wild. He couldn't believe a woman as gorgeous as her was going out on a date with him. Alex knew that Arizona would look great so he made sure to put together the best outfit that he could. He never really wore more than just t-shirts and hoodies when he wasn't at work so he knew Arizona would appreciate seeing him in a black military style button down shirt and a pair of jeans that didn't have any holes in them.

Alex reached over the center console and linked his fingers with Arizona as they started the drive. Alex was nervous and needed contact with Arizona to help calm him down. He had no idea why he was nervous but he was. He knew that Arizona really liked him but he needed her to be comfortable being out with a man in public. He wanted their first date to be fun and engaging so that she would focus on the date and not the fact that she was out with a man. He knew that if he couldn't get her comfortable then the chances of a second date and becoming anything more than a friend with benefits was slim.

"You look great," Alex said shyly as he glanced at the woman seated next to him before turning his eyes back on the road.

"Thank you. So do you," Arizona could feel the heat rising in her cheeks. She was just as nervous as Alex was. She had been dating for twenty years but she had no clue what to expect on a date with a man. In her experience with lesbian relationships, one person almost always became the dominant one in the relationship doing the more stereotypical masculine tasks like driving and opening doors. In her dating history, even though she found herself to be very feminine, Arizona tended to be the dominant person so being on a date with a man it was hard for her to know exactly how to act. Holding doors open for dates was so engrained in her that it felt awkward to have Alex holding her car door open when they first got in the car. This date would definitely be a learning experience. She decided she needed to stop spending her time analyzing the date and how it was different than being a woman and to just focus on the date itself.

In an attempt to ignore the nerves in their bellies, they found themselves focusing on the radio and they were both soon singing along to the latest top forty-hits. Arizona stared out the window as they drove to their destination. Alex had kept where they were going to himself; only letting her know that it was nowhere that their friends had even heard of let alone would go to on a Friday night.

As they got on I-405 and started heading east of Seattle, Arizona let her curiosities get the best of her. "So where exactly are we headed?"

"You'll see," Alex smirked. "Not that much further."

Alex drove another five miles before exiting off the interstate and onto the local roads of Bellevue, a very wealthy suburb of Seattle. Arizona realized Alex was right when they drove into the parking lot. She had never heard of this place so she was fairly confident none of their coworkers had either.

"So," Alex said as he put his car into park. "I'm pretty sure you're wearing socks under those ridiculously hot boots but I swiped a pair from the laundry basket for you just in case." Arizona laughed and got out of the car joining Alex in front so they could make their way inside. "The Garage is an up and coming bowling alley and pool hall," Alex explained as they walked toward the entrance. "It's twenty-one and over so there are no kids running around getting in the way. And it's also been voted some of the best food in the Seattle metro area. They boast over one hundred microbrews on tap and they even have waitresses come take orders and deliver to the bowling lanes."

"This is a great idea, Alex," Arizona said as she tugged on their joined hands. "Really great." This was the nicest bowling alley she had ever seen. She was happy that Alex had chosen a fun date. She wondered if he would pick something more serious like a romantic dinner because they already knew each other so well even though this was technically their first date. She was more than pleased that he chose something that a couple would stereotypically do on a first date.

Alex ushered them inside toward the desk to sign in to his reserved bowling lane. He could see Arizona taking in the place out of the corner of her eye. He watched as she looked around methodically like she was checking every inch to make sure she wouldn't be spotted. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "And it's a major hipster hangout. Not a place for doctors at all."

"Aren't you trendy, Dr. Karev," Arizona teased her date. Alex was constantly complaining about the hipster movement that seemed to be especially strong in the Pacific Nortwest. Men wearing skinny jeans baffled Alex. Arizona liked to tease him that his converse shoes, plaid flannel shirts and his seldom-worn glasses would qualify him as a hipster to which Alex threatened to get rid of all of those items but Arizona knew that he never could because he loves them too much.

After handing over his credit card and giving the worker their shoe sizes they were handed two pairs of the ugliest bowling shoes they had ever seen and directed to their lane. While Alex put his bowling shoes on, Arizona went off in search of the perfect bowling ball. Alex wasn't surprised when she came back with the only hot pink ball he could see in the whole building. He also didn't fail to notice that Arizona managed to make the bowling shoes look hot. He knew that he was a lucky man to be out with her because Arizona could definitely make anything look hot. They decided that their first game was just a warm up but being the competitive people that they are, the teasing was merciless even during their practice game.

Alex had reserved the lane for three hours so they were in no rush to bowl. They ordered a pitcher of beer and took their time bowling. They made fun of each other and themselves each time one would bowl a gutter ball. They debated the angles and trajectory when they needed to pick up a split. And they cheered like kids when one bowled a split or a strike. After two games, which they split with one win each, they decided to take a break for dinner. Instead of choosing to eat at their lane, they went to the in-house restaurant so they could focus on the food and conversation without hearing the sounds of bowling distracting them.

Alex sat nervously across the table from Arizona. He thought the date was going well but he was always second guessing himself. Arizona turned him into a nervous fifteen year old going out on his first date. He wasn't sure how to treat Arizona. On a typical first date, he wouldn't normally touch his date until near the end of it but it felt awkward to not give Arizona a high five after bowling a good frame; however he did restrain himself from slapping her ass when it was her turn to bowl.

"What do you think?" Alex heard Arizona's voice bring him out of his thoughts.

Alex looked up from the menu he was supposed to be reading and saw Arizona staring at him curiously, "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to get some nachos."

"Nachos," Alex nodded. "Good idea. It's not bowling without some fake bright orange cheese."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Honestly?" Alex asked feeling like if he talked to Arizona about his nerves they might go away.

"Of course," Arizona said as she reached out to touch his hand. She was a bit afraid of what had him so deep in thought. She was having a great time and she hoped he was too. "Always," she gave him a smile to encourage him to be truthful.

"I'm nervous," Alex said as he broke eye contact and instead looked at their joined hands on the table top and swiped across her knuckles with his thumb.

Arizona bit her lip and dipped her head down to meet Alex's gaze, "I'm nervous too."

"Is it wrong of me to say that I'm glad that you're nervous too?" Alex finally brought his eyes up so that he was looking at Arizona again.

"Not at all. It's a first date," Arizona shrugged. "First dates are supposed to be nerve-wracking, aren't they?"

Alex felt a weight lift off of him when he finally admitted his nerves. "Right, first date. So I think this is when I'm supposed to ask you to tell me about yourself."

Arizona laughed and played along, "Well, as you already know I am a spectacular bowler…"

The two continued to treat the date like it was a real first date between two acquaintances throughout the rest of dinner. They asked each other all of the stereotypical first date questions that they already knew the answers too. Sometimes they were able to surprise the other with their answers like when Alex found out that Arizona wanted to be a dentist when she was a kid, something he knew he would have to ask Barbara Robbins about the next time they spoke. As they talked and laughed at the corny answers that first date questions always require they both felt themselves relax and become less nervous.

It was a fun night out. As they got into the date Arizona was able to relax and let her guard down. She was able to flirt and be touchy-feely with Alex without looking around to make sure no one was watching. They bowled two more games before deciding to head home. They had each won two games so they decided to leave it at a tie so that neither one of them would spend the drive back home pouting at the loss. Alex continued to be a gentleman as they left the bowling alley. He opened Arizona's door and made sure the temperature in the car was comfortable. He was perfect until he became unusually quiet on the drive home. He barely said anything except short answers to Arizona's questions. He didn't engage in conversation leaving Arizona wondering what had happened from the time they left the bowling alley until that point. Alex was busy trying to figure out exactly how the rest of the night was going to go to focus on anything else. He never really considered how it was going to work since they lived together. He couldn't exactly drop her off on her doorstep with a goodnight kiss and then go home. They also shared a bed. Even though they hadn't had sex since the one night slip-up on New Years, they still spent most nights sleeping in the same bed unless one of them had to work. He wished there was some sort of guidebook for how to proceed the rest of the night but unfortunately he felt like he was in a one of a kind situation as he was dating his formerly gay but now bisexual best friend with benefits.

Alex remained quiet as he parked his car in the garage and met Arizona on her side of the car. Arizona instinctually linked their hands together and walked them into the house.

"I'm not sure how this is supposed to go," Alex said honestly. He decided that honesty was the best policy about his feelings with Arizona and their dating. In their unique situation they wouldn't get anywhere if they both kept things bottled up inside.

"How what is supposed to go?"

"This. The end of the date."

"How do you normally end a first date?" Arizona raised her eyebrows.

"Well, normally, I'd walk my date to her front door. We'd make small talk for a few minutes. Then I'd ask her out for a second date. If she agreed, I'd give her a peck on the lips and then go back to my car and high five myself before driving home."

"Well…" Arizona drawled as she dragged Alex upstairs and stopped in front of her bedroom door. "We're here at my front door," she batted her eyelashes at her date.

"I had a great time tonight," Alex played along as Arizona leaned up against her door.

Arizona giggled. The result of several beers and first date jitters. "I did too."

"Do you think that maybe you'd want to do it again sometime?" Alex suddenly got shy and nervously played with the doorframe his hand was resting on. He was almost positive that Arizona would take him up on the offer for a second date but that didn't mean that he wasn't nervous about the slim chance of rejection. And if she did reject him he knew that their relationship would forever be different. Things would get awkward and he was sure that they'd grow apart if she turned him down.

"I would really like that."

Alex let out a sigh of relief, "Great. I'll give you a call tomorrow then."

"Sounds good," Arizona continued to giggle as she watched Alex act all nervous. She knew he had to be nervous. This was the end of the date. At the end of the first date both parties always got nervous over how to end it. Even though she had kissed Alex hundreds of times she knew that he was going to be nervous to kiss her at the end of a date – it was only natural.

Alex looked at Arizona's lips and subconsciously liked his own lips. Arizona knew what was coming. She had been waiting all night for it. Alex dipped his head down low and closed his eyes as their lips made contact. He had meant for it to be just a peck; a kiss that two acquaintances who had just had an awkward first date would share. Arizona felt Alex start to pull away just as soon as the kiss started. Alex rarely used tongue on a first date but Arizona couldn't let Alex go that quickly. She reached up with one arm and wrapped her hand around the nape of Alex's neck and trapped him against her lips as she opened her mouth to turn the peck into a deeper kiss. Alex was helpless to her advances even if it did break his first date kissing rule. While he was trying to give her the first date experience, he wasn't going to stop her when she kissed him deeper. He let his own arms fall to wrap around Arizona's waist as they stood at her bedroom door and made out.

"Uhh… wow," Alex said when they finally stopped kissing. "Who knew you could be so slutty on a first date, Robbins?"

"You like it," Arizona said as she wiped Alex's lip with her thumb, attempting to rub off a mark of lipstick that she had left on his upper lip.

"I guess I should sleep in my own bed tonight," Alex sighed. He hoped that Arizona would stop him but he didn't want to be presumptuous. This whole dating situation was just so complicated.

"Why?" Arizona rolled her eyes and opened her bedroom door. She knew that Alex was trying to be polite but she wanted him in her bed. She had gotten so used to sleeping next to him that she knew it would take her forever to fall asleep if he wasn't there.

"Because that's what a gentleman does?"

"I think we can manage to keep our hands to ourselves for a little while longer, don't you?" Arizona asked as she came out of the bathroom after getting ready for sleep. She stripped her v-neck off and pulled out a tank top to wear to bed as she waited for Alex's answer.

"Not if you keep doing that in front of me," Alex muttered under his breath as he too took off his shirt. Seeing Arizona half naked in only a bra had instantly turned him on. He felt his pants get tighter and knew that he would have no way of taking care of it that night.

"I heard that," Arizona laughed. "You owe me a few more dates before you get any of that again."

Alex went about his pre-bed routine while Arizona was making herself comfortable in bed. He flicked off the bedside lamp as he crawled into bed and curled his body around Arizona's. "Stupid, stupid, stupid rule. Not one of my best ideas."

Arizona pulled on Alex's arm so that he was as close as possible to her, "I kinda like it. It's romantic."

Alex nuzzled his nose into Arizona's hair and took a deep breath before letting himself fall asleep. He had never heard anyone call him romantic in any way. And the more he thought about it he had never really been romantic with the women he'd been with. He'd always done just enough to get by in the relationship but never went the extra effort. It was just one of the many ways that Arizona was changing him – for the better.

**…**


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Hope you like this extra long chapter. I needed to get this story to a certain point with this one so I couldn't cut it off which just means more for you! Time to add a little drama. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

After their first date success, the new couple eagerly anticipated a second date. It was tricky business starting a formal relationship with someone that they had already been so intimate with. Rules were set about just what constituted a date after Alex tried to say that a Tuesday night trivia game was a date. Arizona argued that it wasn't because they played trivia every Tuesday night – it wasn't anything special. Plus, the fact that they couldn't be out with it being an actual date at Joe's because of the location put trivia firmly in the not a date column. Anything that occurred at home was also not a date; so their nightly dinners together or watching movies on the couch didn't count. It was just finding the time to go on real dates that was the problem with continuing their dating life. Even with Arizona dictating the schedule of her department, she found it difficult to get her and Alex's schedules to line up; and when they did line up emergencies kept coming up. Not being able to go on their second real date didn't stop them from enjoying each other's company when they were both home at the same time. Make out sessions on the couch were common but they found it difficult to stop before things went too far. They really needed to go on the second date so that they could get to the third.

It was ten days after their first date when Alex had had enough with waiting. He and Arizona were both stuck working a twelve hour overnight shift. He had rounded on all of their patients on the ward and was happy that they were all stable. Barring no emergencies, the night should be pretty quiet. It was the perfect time to take Arizona out on their second date. Except they couldn't really go out and they'd have to be pretty sneaky to pull it off but Alex couldn't wait any longer. The next opportunity they'd have for a second date would be that upcoming weekend and Alex had decided that they had waited long enough.

After consulting with his residents and letting them know that he and Arizona were not to be paged unless someone was on the brink of death, Alex put his plan into motion. He waited until it was after ten at night because he didn't want to start too early. He wanted to make sure the hospital was sufficiently empty and all of their friends had gone home for the day before setting up his plan. Once it was late enough, Alex made a series of phone calls before leaving the hospital to take care of business. He left his most trusted resident with orders to cover for him if Arizona started looking for him in the hour or so that he knew he'd be gone.

Once Alex returned from his errands it was time to set everything up. He initially wanted to use the roof for their date but the bitter cold temperatures of late January and the perpetual drizzle ruled that out as an option. He needed somewhere that they wouldn't be found. Arizona's office was out because they could easily be accidentally walked in on by residents, interns and friends. He knew of one other place that could be used and hoped that none of the newer doctors at the hospital had taken it over as their hangout. After making everything look perfect it was time to find his date.

"Dr. Robbins," Alex greeted as he sidled up next to Arizona who was standing in a hallway in the pediatrics department speaking with a resident.

Arizona smiled at him in recognition that she saw him standing there but continued on with her conversation about a patient's care. When she knew that the resident understood exactly what she expected for the course of treatment overnight, Arizona sent the young doctor on his way before turning to Alex who had been waiting patiently next to her. "Dr. Karev, what can I help you with?" she said formally knowing that the resident was still hovering nearby.

"I could use your expertise on something. Care to follow me?"

Arizona nodded and followed Alex. She fully expected him to lead them toward a patient's room or at least to a chart. But instead he led them toward the elevator and hit the button for the basement.

Arizona quirked her eyebrows at Alex when the elevator doors closed, "What're we doing?"

"We're going on our second date," Alex smirked.

"Uh, what?" Arizona was confused as she and Alex both had ten more hours of work ahead of them before they were off again. "What about work?"

"Work will still be there in an hour or two."

"We can't leave the hospital, you know that."

The elevator dinged to signal their arrival in the basement. "We're not leaving the hospital."

Alex led Arizona out of the elevator and into the basement.

Arizona's eyes went wide when she saw what he had done to the place. "When? How?" she asked.

The dingy basement had been completely transformed into their own personal bistro. During the hour Alex had left the hospital he managed to run home, grab a fold-up table and Christmas lights that he had yet to put back into storage. Then he went to Arizona's favorite Italian restaurant where he had her favorite meal waiting to be picked up. One last stop to grab some flowers and Alex had done everything he possibly could to make the basement less basement-y.

Alex ignored Arizona's questions and instead pulled out a chair and gestured for her to take a seat. Arizona was stunned. The last thing she expected to be doing on her overnight shift was going on a date with Alex. She figured she'd do some charts and finish the budget paperwork that Hunt wanted by the end of the week – definitely not having a fine dining experience in the hospital basement.

While it wasn't the second date that either had imagined it turned out to be perfect. Alex was able to answer all of Arizona's questions as they ate their very late dinner. They were able to catch up on each other's days without constant interruptions from residents and nurses. When dinner was all over, Arizona found herself getting a little sad that their date would be over so soon. But, Alex wasn't ready for the date to be over after dinner. He had a plan for them post-dinner as well.

Arizona watched curiously as Alex grabbed a duffle bag that was resting against the door to the basement. "What do you have going on in there?"

Alex pulled out his iPad and waved it in front of her. "I might have the latest _Hunger Games_ movie." Then, he pulled out a box tied carefully with a bow, "And some cheesecake." Alex then nodded toward the cot in the corner of the dimly lit basement, "And it looks like we have a perfectly good bed to lie down on to enjoy both of these things."

Arizona smiled as she quickly made her way toward the man. "I like the way you think," she kissed him softly, breaking it before it got passionate. While they were kissing she managed to relieve Alex of the cheesecake in his hands. Alex was a cheesecake fiend and she knew if she wanted more than a bite she needed to be the one who had it in their possession.

"That's dirty, Zo. You don't play fair," Alex snickered as he picked up a blanket that he had packed in his bag and met Arizona on the cot.

"You're just now realizing this," Arizona winked and patted the empty spot on the bed next to her.

The cheesecake didn't last past the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Arizona fell asleep somewhere in the first hour and Alex was asleep not that much after her. Alex was woken up several hours later by the buzzing of Arizona's pager. She looked so very peaceful as she slept that he hated to wake her but duty called.

"Zo," Alex whispered trying to get her to wake up. "Arizona," he said louder causing her to finally stir and look at him with sleepy eyes. "Your pager."

"Shit," Arizona murmured as she wiped at her eyes. She hadn't planned on falling asleep but the dark ambiance and a belly full of good food easily pushed her into dreamland. Alex helped her find her lab coat as she got ready to head back to the reality of the hospital.

"I'll clean up down here," Alex said as he led Arizona to the elevator.

Arizona pressed her lips into his, "I had a great time. Thank you for this. It was exactly what I needed."

"I'll see you in a bit," Alex said as Arizona got onto the elevator.

Arizona put her hand out to stop the doors from closing and beckoned Alex closer. "Next date is mine," she whispered against his lips, needing one more kiss to get her through the rest of her shift.

**…**

After Alex's impromptu date number two, Arizona knew she had tough competition to beat as she tried to plan date three. It was going to be hard to top Alex's pop-up restaurant and movie theater that he created in the hospital basement. As usual, timing was working against them and they had no free time until they were due to leave for their next trip to Malawi. If Arizona was a superstitious person she would have taken all of the roadblocks that seemed to always pop up when it came to their dates as a bad sign. But instead she saw them as unexpected challenges that could be tackled. The Malawi roadblock was an easy fix. They would just have to have their third date in Malawi. She didn't want to wait for their trip to be over. She knew that it would be hard to resist a week of Alex in Africa without sleeping with him; after all it is where they first started their long and winding relationship road.

She spent hours researching things to do in Lilongwe for their date. They didn't get out much in the city when they were there for work. It was primarily long days at the hospital and then their hotel with the occasional random power lunch with the hospital big-wigs. Thanks to an e-mail conversation with one of her favorite nurses in Malawi she had devised a plan for a rather traditional Malawian date. Until Chief Hunt and one phone call ruined all of her hard work and she had to come up with a new plan.

"Karev," Arizona yelled startling the residents that surrounded her favorite fellow and attending surgeon. "My office. Now." Arizona knew her tone was harsh but it was just one of the many ways to cover up her relationship with Alex. Ever since they started living together the other attendings always blamed Arizona for playing favorites with Alex so she always tried to make a point of being a little harder on Alex than most, even if Alex knew it was mostly for show.

"What's up, boss?" Alex asked as he followed Arizona to her office.

Arizona pulled open the door and pointed her finger, signaling for Alex to enter. To everyone in the vicinity it looked like Karev was about to be in a heap of trouble.

Arizona shut the door behind her and found Alex sitting on her couch.

"So, what's up?" he asked again as Arizona sat next to him.

"We have a change in plans for next week. We're not going to Malawi."

"We're not?"

"No," Arizona shook her head. "How do you feel about New York?"

"Well, it's pretty cold this time of year," Alex shuddered just thinking about the cold. The one benefit of Seattle was that while it was pretty far north, it stayed mild most of the winter because it was at sea level.

Arizona reached out to lace their fingers together, bracing for the reaction she was about to get, "How do you feel about presenting your latest paper in New York?"

Alex looked shocked and started to freak out, "But I'm not even done with it yet!"

Arizona laughed sarcastically, "And I've got four days to throw together an entire presentation about everything we've done for the clinic in the last two years as well as take care of everything here." She didn't feel bad for Alex that his paper wasn't complete when she was given a month's worth of work to be done in a matter of days.

"What's all of this about?" Alex asked wondering about the change in plans.

"The Carter-Madison people are having a big meeting in New York this Friday with investors. It's for funding so they need us to basically show everything that we've been doing and why we need more money for the program. We'll do the day of meetings on Friday along with a fancy dinner that night." After explaining the business end of things Arizona's tone changed and the corners of her lips curled into a smile, "But then we don't have to be back in Seattle until Sunday night so we could either fly back on Saturday or I was thinking about maybe spending a couple of days in the city. Alone. With no pagers."

"Third date?" Alex asked seductively as he leaned in closer to Arizona's body. He knew that their lack of a sex life was starting to get to her. As a woman, she could last longer without sex but even she was starting to get antsy. They hadn't said that sex was back on the table after date three but they both knew it was going to happen. Third date sex was totally acceptable without appearing too slutty or manwhorish.

"Third date," Arizona agreed with a smirk but gently pushed Alex off of her body at the same time. She knew her office wasn't locked and didn't want to get caught in a compromising position. "But until then we both have tons of work to do. I'm going to do my best to keep us both out of surgery so that you can finish your paper and I can do the rest of this stuff."

Alex stood from the couch. He knew he had a lot of work to do and he didn't have any time to waste. "Awesome," he said as he winked at Arizona and headed to the research library to get working on his paper.

**…**

After four days of almost non-stop work, three days in New York was heaven for the pair of pediatric surgeons. They both gave perfect presentations to the board and investors which resulted in numerous donations. Alex was even able to get donations for one of his pet projects – providing shoes to the children in the surrounding villages. Having almost two full days to celebrate in New York City was just what they needed after such a busy week of work. They had both been to the city multiple times before so they didn't have to rush around and do the traditional touristy things. Arizona planned a typical New York City date for them on Saturday night. Dinner and a Broadway show. Alex had mentioned on the plane that he had never been to a Broadway show before. He claimed that he didn't do musicals, singing and dancing. But Arizona knew that even Alex Karev would enjoy at least one or two of the shows currently playing on Broadway if he just gave it a chance. She also knew that even if he didn't enjoy it he would fake it because he would never want to hurt Arizona's feelings.

"That was awesome," Alex exclaimed as they exited the theater and made their way out into the brisk New York City air.

Arizona smiled smugly to herself, "Told you so."

"You didn't tell me that it was by the South Park people!" Alex retorted as he grasped her hand in his as they walked down Broadway taking in the all of the lights.

Arizona let go of Alex's hand and wrapped her arm around his middle and tugged him closer to help keep her warm, "I gotta keep you on your toes."

"Where to now?"

"Fancy a drink at the hotel?"

Alex nodded and practically dragged Arizona behind him as he made their way to the road so that he could hail a cab to get them back to the hotel while Arizona giggled at his actions. Alex really liked the idea of a drink at the hotel. At the hotel they would be that much closer to their hotel room which meant that they would be that much closer to the bed that was in their hotel room.

After sharing a bottle of wine at the hotel bar, Alex and Arizona were very handsy as they made their way up to their hotel room. They both knew what was coming and they couldn't wait. Luckily, the hotel elevator was empty and Alex didn't mind giving the security guys a bit of a show. Arizona probably would have minded if she wasn't a little tipsy and loving the feeling of Alex's hands pulling at her dress.

"Mmmph," Arizona moaned as her back hit the hotel room door. Alex had attached his lips to her neck as he fumbled for the room key in his pocket. Arizona was about to protest the length of time it was taking when she heard the tell-tale beeps that signaled the door was unlocked.

Alex turned the door handle and pushed the door open while keeping one hand on Arizona's back to keep her from falling through the door. "You are so fucking hot," he growled into her ear as he backpedaled them toward the bed in the middle of the room. He gently pushed her onto the bed. "These heels," Alex said as he gently removed her shoes. "They make your legs look amazing. And this dress," Alex continued to lavish praises for her body as he pushed the dress up her body and over her head. "This dress. You are so incredibly hot in black."

While Arizona always loved compliments and they were always great to hear while in bed, she needed less talking and more action. Arizona pulled him on top of her and silenced him with her mouth on his. There was no more talking that night.

Alex woke up the next morning with Arizona's leg thrown over his body as her mouth was working its magic on his neck. "Mmm. I could get used to waking up like this," Alex murmured as he met Arizona's bright blue eyes.

"You mean you don't enjoy being woken up by pagers at all hours?"

Alex grabbed Arizona and rolled her on top of his body, "I much prefer your way of waking me up."

Arizona knew that Alex wanted to go another round when he rolled her onto his body. She had slept in the same bed as him for long enough to know that he usually woke up very happy to see her which made her wonder just what he dreamed about in his pretty little head at night. But she still wanted to tease him a little bit before she gave in. "So," Arizona said as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "We don't have to be at the airport until five so I'm thinking we could go do brunch. Then maybe some shopping. We can go to F.A.O. Schwartz and get Lily something. And then maybe a late lunch before we go to the airport?"

Alex let out an unintentional groan at Arizona's plans for the day. His plans for the day involved morning sex, brunch in bed, shower sex and then whatever Arizona wanted to do between hotel check out and the airport. While he didn't want to seem sex crazy because he knew that their relationship was about more than just sex, they were still making up for lost time. But he didn't want to disappoint Arizona. He hated to see her sad or upset so he sucked it up. "Whatever you want, babe," he forced out with a smile.

Arizona tried really hard to keep a straight face but she couldn't when she saw him smiling through gritted teeth. She rolled her hips into his, "Alex. I'm just joking. I think we should spend the day enjoying this very expensive hotel room that the Carter-Madison committee is providing for us until they kick us out."

Alex reacted instinctively by latching onto Arizona's neck and flipping them over. While they didn't spend as much time enjoying the city as they might have wanted to, they did enjoy the heck out of their hotel room.

**…**

Arizona sighed heavily as she came home from work. It had been a long, stressful day and she was looking forward to having a relaxing night at home with her boyfriend. She leaned against the kitchen counter after coming in from the garage. From where she was standing she could see Alex watching something sports related on television. She watched him from afar as she questioned what she had been thinking about on her drive home. Coming home to her boyfriend. She didn't know if he was her boyfriend. He had never called her his girlfriend but it's not like they really spoke about each other with other people to be able to use those words. It had been almost two weeks since they had been back from New York City and things had never been better. It was the impending Valentine's Day holiday coming up that was giving her pause as she wondered just what their relationship was to Alex. She wouldn't blame him if he couldn't commit to being her boyfriend. She was the one that was keeping their relationship hidden from everyone.

She was so lost in her thoughts and staring out into space that she didn't realize that Alex had heard her come into the house and had gotten up from the couch to greet her when she didn't come into the living room.

Alex slipped his hands around her waist and drew her back into his front. "Hey," he spoke against her ear causing Arizona to shiver. "What're you doing in here?"

"Thinking about dinner," Arizona lied as she turned around to give Alex a peck. After kissing him she went right to the fridge and pulled out the chicken she intended to make for dinner. She wanted to talk to Alex about what they were but she wanted to do it on a full stomach first in case things didn't go well and she lost her appetite.

Alex took the chicken out of Arizona's hands. He knew she had had a long day and wanted to do his part to help. "Let me fix dinner," Alex squeezed Arizona's hip. "You go shower and it'll be done when you are."

Arizona didn't try to argue as she knew Alex would win. She knew she could put up a fight but in the end she would cave because a relaxing shower did sound like a fabulous idea. When she returned to the kitchen, Alex was true to his word and had the chicken grilled and veggies steamed.

After eating the couple had migrated to the living room for some mindless television. Alex could tell as the show went on that Arizona wasn't paying much attention. She was fidgeting constantly. She couldn't keep her feet still. One minute she had them in his lap, the other they were tucked under her. He would turn to look at her and catch her staring at him but she always quickly looked away when she was caught.

Alex grabbed the remote control and turned the television off. "What's going on, Zo?" Alex tried not to show it but he was worried. He wondered if Arizona was over being with a guy – if she was going to break things off. When Arizona just shrugged her shoulders and reached to grab the remote from him, Alex pulled it away from her. "You suck at keeping things from me. So just go ahead and tell me."

Arizona played with the blanket on her lap and avoided eye contact. "I had therapy today."

Alex nodded, encouraging her to continue. He knew she still went to therapy. She usually didn't talk about it but he still knew she went.

"She asked me about my boyfriend," Arizona brought her gaze to meet Alex's but quickly dropped it again, afraid to see if he reacted to her use of the boyfriend word. "And then I realized that I didn't know if you were my boyfriend. I've never had a boyfriend. I've had lots of girlfriends but definitely never any boyfriends. I'm pretty sure it's the same but boys don't always think the same way girls do. Boys don't tend to think about feelings and relationships. So I guess I just wanted to know if you're my boyfriend but I totally understand if you're not ready to go there because I know I'm a mess; and you've been great and so understanding with everything and I know I'm hard to be with – with all of the hiding things and secrecy so I can see why you wouldn't be ready…"

"Arizona!" Alex interrupted her epic ramble with a finger to her lips. He knew that she was hard to stop when she started talking but he couldn't let her go any further down the road she was going on. She was starting to upset herself for no reason.

Arizona took a deep breath and looked up at Alex again, "Yes?"

"I've never met anyone who rambles like you do," Alex said as he linked their hands together. "Of course I'm your boyfriend. As long as you want me to be?"

Arizona squeezed his hand and nodded, "I do."

"That wasn't so hard now was it?" Alex cupped Arizona's cheek with his hand and leaned in for a kiss. "I love you," he said as he pulled away from the kiss. He'd been meaning to tell her those three words for a very long time but he didn't want to seem like he was rushing things even though they'd been best friends for over two years. After hearing Arizona's anxiety over their relationship and relationship titles he knew it was time to say it and to let Arizona know just how much she meant to him. She needed to know.

"I love you too," Arizona whispered back. She stared at him for a moment before adding, "And that scares the crap out of me."

"It scares me too," Alex admitted as they continued to stare at each other.

Arizona cocked her head and looked at the man sitting next to her. "Why?" she asked, wanting to know his vulnerabilities.

"Because I love you so much and what happens if you decide you want to go back to women? What if you figure out that I'm the asshole that everyone else makes me out to be? What if I'm not enough for you?"

"Oh Alex," Arizona sighed and pulled him into a hug. She had been so focused on her own feelings that she didn't see how everything was affecting her partner. "You are enough. You are more than enough. You are perfect."

"But," Alex started to protest. He'd never been enough for anyone else before so he didn't think that there was any way that he could be for Arizona.

"No buts, Alex," Arizona pulled out of the hug so that she was looking at him in the eyes. "You're perfect. And I love you and I want to be with you."

"You're sure?" Alex asked, wanting to make sure.

"I am," Arizona nodded her head firmly. "And I think I'm ready to start going public with our relationship."

Alex was shocked. "Really?"

"Yeah. I mean I'm not going to make out with you in the cafeteria but I wouldn't do huge public displays or announcements with anyone. You're just such a huge part of my life and I hate hiding you from everyone. You deserve better than that and I think I'm ready for to take that next step. I talked about it a lot in therapy today. My therapist suggested that I start with just one person that I really trust and go from there," Arizona explained. It was much like the same process she used when she was a teenager discovering that she liked girls. She confided in her brother long before she told anyone else.

"Teddy?"

"Yeah," Arizona moved to rest her head on Alex's shoulder. "I can trust that she won't tell anyone until I tell her that it's okay. Plus outside of you she's my best friend. She'll… well, I'm not sure how she'll take it but she'll understand."

Alex kissed the top of Arizona's head. He was proud of her. He knew it would take incredible strength for Arizona to come out as bisexual to her friends. "She'll probably just be upset because you've kept this from her for so long."

"You're probably right," Arizona yawned behind her hand. She was utterly exhausted but it was still pretty early so she didn't want to go to bed so soon.

"Mmhm and I'm thinking that you look like you're about to fall asleep down here in my arms which I wouldn't mind but I think your bed would be a lot more comfortable."

"But it's too early," Arizona protested as Alex physically lifted her up and over his shoulder to take her upstairs to bed.

Alex slapped Arizona's ass as they continued into the bedroom. "You worked fifteen hours today. Nothing wrong with going to bed early. Isn't that what you old people do anyway?" Alex teased as he gently threw her down on the bed.

Alex turned out the lights to the bedroom and joined Arizona in bed. He curled his body around Arizona's and breathed in her scent. Alex was right and Arizona was almost asleep as soon as she had gotten in bed. It had been a long day for her with work and therapy and then talking to Alex about their relationship. She was physically and emotionally exhausted. As soon as she felt Alex's arms slip around her she was able to fully relax and fall asleep. Their quiet, shared murmured "I love yous" left them both with smiles on their faces as they fell asleep together.

**…**

Arizona was practically skipping as she walked into the cafeteria. She had had a great morning at work. She had gotten to discharge a patient that had been in the hospital for over seven months. While she was going to miss seeing Gabby every day, she was thrilled that Gabby was healthy enough to finally go home with her mother. On top of all of that she had time to actually have lunch in the cafeteria with her friends instead of eating while working in the office.

She saw her friends eating and talking animatedly when she entered. Alex gave her a wink when she walked by the table and she tried not to blush. After grabbing a chicken salad and a drink she continued to bounce over to the lunch table and joined her friends.

"Oh, Robbins is here. She can probably give us the sunshine side of things," Cristina said as Arizona sat down.

Arizona's butt had barely been in her chair when Cristina attacked her. "Uh, what?" Arizona sought clarification as she started to eat her lunch.

"We're talking about Valentine's Day," Teddy clarified. The holiday was the next day so it wasn't surprising that they were discussing it at lunch.

"Hallmark holiday or not?" Cristina pointed her fork at Arizona.

Arizona gazed up at the rest of her table mates hoping for a little more explanation.

"Most of them," Callie explained as she pointed toward Cristina, Mark and Bailey. "Think that it's just a corporate made up holiday and should not be celebrated. Your thoughts?"

"Oh!" Arizona exclaimed and subtly looked at Alex. "Definitely a Hallmark holiday. But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be celebrated."

"You can't have it both ways, Robbins," Cristina continued. It was obvious that Cristina did not agree with the holiday at all. She was the leader of the anti-Valentine's Day movement at the table.

"I think you can," Arizona explained. "Sure, it's a product of the greeting card, candy and jewelry industries. But what is the holiday really about?" She asked rhetorically before answering her own question, "It's about showing the people that you care about that you care about them – whether that is your significant other, parent, child or friend. And in my opinion, as a society, we don't do that often enough in our daily lives. We might say 'I love you' as we hang up the phone but that is normally just a reflex – a habit. We need to show our loved ones that we really mean it. We should be doing that every day because as doctors we all know how easily things can change in life but we don't. So even if it is a commercial holiday meant just to get people to spend money, I don't mind it because it gets us to spend at least one day a year showing the people we love the most that we love them."

Arizona finished her little speech and looked around the table. Everyone was staring at her silently. She wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad thing that she had shut everyone up.

"Wow," Cristina finally broke the silence. "The candy people must really love you. They've totally got you hooked on the holiday."

"I actually think that makes a lot of sense," Alex took Arizona's side on the fight earning him a grateful smile from his girlfriend.

"So do I," Callie agreed.

Arizona smiled smugly. She had won the argument.

"So I'm guessing this means that you are obviously doing something for the holiday then?" Cristina asked as she finished off her meal.

Arizona nodded as she ate a forkful of salad, "I do. Well, I'm working tomorrow afternoon but I should be done in time to go out. Plus I have a three day weekend."

"What're you doing?" Teddy asked from beside her, curious about her plans.

"I don't know," Arizona slyly looked at Alex from the corner of her eye. "I was told that it was a surprise."

"Ugh," Cristina groaned and threw a fry at her. "You're one of those cheesy romantic couple-y people who does surprises and crap. I can't stand people like you. So what do you give as a gift? Chocolate? Handcuffs? Edible underwear?"

Arizona threw the fry back at her. She didn't want to say what she had gotten Alex in front of him so she diverted the topic away from her gift. "That's another thing. It doesn't have to be a big gift or a gift at all. For my parents growing up it was simply them doing something together, alone without my brother and me. Now as we've grown up they have become much more luxurious with this concept as this Valentine's Day they're going on a ten day cruise but back in the day it was as simple as going to the movies or a weekend away."

"Ooh, spending time together," Cristina mocked. "That's a cop out. Give a real gift at least. Diamonds are always good."

"Well then what is the stone hearted woman doing this Valentine's Day?" Arizona asked.

"I am hosting an anti-Valentine's Day party at Joe's. Raise your hands if you're coming."

Callie, Mark, Cristina, and Teddy raised their hands with Bailey, Alex, Arizona and Meredith keeping their hands down.

Cristina got up from the table to leave and pointed her finger at everyone with their hands down, "Y'all bitches are going to be jealous. It's going to be an epic party."

With Cristina's exit the table was able to return to more normal topics of conversation. Everyone was grateful for the time to be able to sit down and enjoy each other's company in a setting other than an operating room or a patient's room. Before going back to work, Arizona made sure to pull Teddy aside and ask her to come by her office later in the day. She was ready to let Teddy in on her biggest secret.

**…**

Alex was killing time in the skills lab when Cristina found him. He had driven Arizona into work and she still had another hour before she could leave. Instead of driving home only to turn right back around and get her, he decided to be productive with his free time. He had a tricky surgery coming up that he had only done once before and wanted to make sure he could execute it perfectly in the operating room.

"So why aren't you coming to my party?" Cristina broke Alex out of his concentration as she rolled up next to him on a stool.

Alex grunted and pulled the suture he was working on tight. "I have plans."

"Since when do you have plans?"

"Since I have a girlfriend," Alex answered hoping to shut Cristina up but also knowing that he had probably just given her a whole new can of worms to pester him about.

"Wait. Hold up," Cristina held a hand up in the air in a stopping motion. "You have a girlfriend? Since when?"

Alex glanced up from his work and shrugged, "Awhile now." While technically it was a new development he considered the true beginning of their relationship to be the night they shared in Malawi.

"Well who is she?" Cristina asked as she peered at the fake body that Alex was working on. "And that stitch isn't good enough. You want me to do it?"

Alex pushed Cristina out of the way with his elbow. "No and I'm not telling you."

"Why not?" Cristina whined as Alex pulled off his gloves and threw them into the nearby trash. It was no use to continue to practice with Cristina pestering him.

As he watched the gloves land perfectly in the trash can, the skills lab door opened again and Meredith walked into the room.

"Hey Mer, Alex has a girlfriend and won't tell me who she is. Make him tell me," Christina continued to whine as she treated Meredith like their mother and she and Alex were two bickering children.

"Tell her," Meredith said flatly as she sat down next to them.

Cristina smirked at Alex thinking that with Meredith there they would definitely get the information out of him. "So?"

"Not telling," Alex shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Meredith passed Cristina a bag of pretzels to snack on, "Why not?"

Alex ripped the bag from Cristina's hands and grabbed a handful of the salty snack. "Because you two will google and facebook her and then tell me all about how she's either no good for me or I'm not good enough for her. It won't be 'she's great, Alex. We love her,'" Alex mocked their tone.

"We will not," Cristina argued.

Meredith snickered, "We really would."

Alex stood up and pointed his finger at his friends, "And that is why I'm not telling."

"Please," Meredith and Cristina cried in unison and gave him their best puppy dog eyes. They thrived on gossip and things had been particularly quiet around the hospital. A good piece of gossip from Alex could keep them busy for a month.

"You'll find out soon enough," Alex placated his friends. "She's going to stick around awhile."

Cristina picked up a pretzel and threw it at Alex as he took his leave from the room. He knew if he stayed any longer he would just get irritated with their sad, begging eyes. Meredith laughed when the pretzel fell short of hitting its target by over five feet.

Cristina retaliated by throwing a pretzel at her too. "I'm mad at you for ditching my party too."

Meredith threw the pretzel back in Cristina's face. "I have a kid now. I can't be out getting drunk on whatever concoction you come up with tomorrow night."

"I warned you about adopting that rugrat," Cristina complained as she had a smile on her face. Meredith knew that even Cristina didn't mean her words. Cristina had been known to sing and play itsy bitsy spider with her goddaughter.

Meredith pulled her friend up by her arm and dragged her out of the room, "Come on let's go troll for surgeries like we're interns again. I'm bored and have another eight hours here so I need something to do."

**…**

Arizona had been waiting in her office nervously all afternoon. Teddy had texted her that she would come by when she got out of surgery. Arizona only had evening rounds left for the day so she was in her office trying to work on charts but she couldn't focus on anything except the butterflies in her stomach caused by the thought of revealing her secret. She really wanted to tell Teddy. She really did. But putting it out there in the universe was nerve-wracking.

Arizona was lounging on her couch with her feet on her coffee table and staring at a chart when Teddy walked into her office.

"Hey," Teddy's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

Arizona put on a brave face and smiled as she moved over on the couch to give Teddy room to sit down. "Hey."

"So what's going on?" Teddy asked as she sat down.

Arizona put the chart on the coffee table. "Remember when I told you you'd be the first to know when there's something to know?"

"About your love life?" Teddy asked for clarification. After Arizona's speech at lunch she had been more curious than ever at what was going on in Arizona's life and was glad that Arizona was finally going to open up to her.

"Yeah," Arizona nodded. "Things are getting serious so I figured it was time for my best friend to know."

"Finally," Teddy smiled and bumped her shoulder against Arizona's. "I've been going crazy trying to think of who it is. I've gone over all the lesbians I know of in the hospital and the only one I could think of that is a potential suitor is Hannah in radiology but she's like a five and you are a ten. So I'm pretty sure if it is someone in the hospital then it's someone who I don't know or who isn't out."

"It's definitely not Hannah but it is someone you know. Someone that will probably surprise you."

"Oh it's not Callie again, is it? Because I know she is sleeping with Mark again."

"Why does everyone think it's Callie?" Arizona asked curiously before shaking the thought out of her mind. "No it's definitely not Callie."

"Then who? Just spit it out, Arizona. I don't know who you could be dating that is this big of a –" Teddy's pager went off before she could finish her sentence. "Shit. My patient is coding. We're not done with this conversation, Arizona," Teddy called over her shoulder as she went running from the office.

Arizona slumped against the couch and growled to herself. She couldn't remember the last time she had been so pissed off at a pager. She had spent all afternoon working up the courage to tell Teddy and she had to go get paged away. Now she'd have to spend another day dealing with the anxiety of letting Teddy in.

**…**

Alex tiptoed into the bedroom where Arizona was still sleeping in bed. She had sprawled out like a starfish after he had gotten out of bed. He found her bed-hogging ways endearing even if they did result in him falling off the bed at least once a week in the middle of the night. He had to go to work earlier than she did but he wanted to make sure her day started off the right way. Alex gently placed the tray containing the breakfast he had painstakingly made on his side of the bed. He groaned when the movement caused coffee to splash out of the mug and onto the tray.

The smell of coffee was the first thing to awaken Arizona. She smelled it as soon as Alex walked into the bedroom. The sounds of plates and silverware clanking together when he put the tray down only served as the final push to wake her up.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Valentine" Alex greeted when he saw her eyes flutter.

"Happy Valentine's Day," Arizona parroted as she struggled to wake up. "What's all of this?" Arizona asked when her eyes finally opened.

Alex lifted the tray and put it over Arizona's lap, "Breakfast in bed. It's the most important meal of the day, you know. And I need to make sure you eat well today because I have plans for you later."

"Mmmm, thank you for this," Arizona moaned after a gratifying but scalding sip of coffee. "You going to let me in on those plans yet?" Arizona asked curiously as she blew into the coffee mug, attempting to cool down the hot liquid.

"I will tell you that you need to pack for a weekend away."

"That still doesn't tell me much, Karev. What type of clothes do I need to pack?" Arizona batted her eyes trying to get any information out of him.

"Something for everything," Alex answered and leaned down to kiss her. "Now I need to get going to work. We both get off at five and we're leaving at exactly five so be productive when you get in."

"Fine, fine," Arizona glared at Alex. She hated surprises and really wanted to know what he had up his sleeve for the weekend.

Alex ignored her glaring and pulled her head up toward his for a more passionate kiss. "Enjoy your morning off. I'll see you at work in a few." Kissing Arizona was addicting and he knew that if he didn't move off of the bed and get out the door he would be late for work. He kissed her goodbye, "I love you."

"Love you too," Arizona called out after him. "Even if you don't tell me what you're planning," Arizona yelled as Alex exited their bedroom. She knew he could still hear her and she wanted to yet again voice her displeasure about being kept in the dark.

Knowing that he was taking Arizona for a weekend getaway was the only thing that kept Alex going at work. His patients and their families seemed to miss the memo about it being a holiday dedicated to love. Everyone seemed angry. He spent all morning taking care of a teenager and her parents who wanted to ask any and every question about her condition. He took the time to answer every question thoughtfully and thoroughly. Even after all of that the parents then they had the nerve to tell him that he was too young to be their child's doctor and they wanted a new one. Since Arizona wasn't at work yet, it took the Chief of Surgery to calm the parents down and convince them that Alex was the best surgeon for their daughter. Alex was humming as he scrubbed in for surgery. It was the first Valentine's Day in a long time that he was actually with someone that he was in love with and he wanted to enjoy it even if it was just a Hallmark holiday. Arizona was right the day before that people as a whole don't do a good enough job of showing that they care and he wanted to spend the weekend making sure that Arizona knew just how much she meant to him. He couldn't wait to finish his surgery and meet Arizona to start their weekend away.

Except Arizona didn't make it to work that day as planned.

After enjoying her breakfast in bed, Arizona took her time getting around for the day since she didn't need to be in until mid-day. She spent all morning packing for the weekend away. Since Alex didn't give her any direction as to what to pack she had to guess which meant coming up with at least three perfect outfits for the cold and the heat, dry and wet. She also needed to make sure she packed some sexy outfits to wear as well. She had been shopping earlier in the week to make sure she had a nice surprise for Alex for Valentine's Day and she didn't want to forget that at home. Since she was going away for the weekend, Arizona wanted to get one last bike ride in before taking the weekend off. She knew the only exercise she'd be getting over the weekend would be sexual and not a twenty mile run or fifty mile bike ride. It was a dry and overcast day so it was perfect bicycling weather. She dressed in a pair of tights and her reflective jacket as she bounced down the stairs with her weekend getaway bag in one hand and her helmet in the other. She made sure to leave her bag right by the door so that all they would have to do after work is drive by the house and grab it and then they could be on their way to wherever Alex was taking them.

Arizona was halfway through the ten mile bike ride to work when it happened. She could hear the car coming up behind her but she knew she didn't have time to react; the car was going too fast. She couldn't see it but she knew what was about to happen. A split second later she heard the tires screech and smelled the burning of rubber. And then everything went black.

Arizona never made it to work that day – at least as a doctor.

**…**


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Just a note that I'm not a doctor and even though two of my closest friends are doctors and another close friend was in a very similar accident with similar injuries - I am still positive that the medical part is not 100% accurate. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter after I left you with such a cliffhanger. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The crash scene was chaos. People and cars where everywhere while traffic continued to whiz by on the busy street. Cars that had witnessed the incident had pulled over to see what they could do to help. People were yelling at each other as they tried to remember as much about the car that hit the woman lying on the ground as they could. Everyone was yelling for help. Someone called 911 and the police were first on the scene only minutes later. The police officers immediately pushed everyone back away from the scene and set up a perimeter. Four officers arrived at the scene with two officers handling the scene while two went to take care of the victim. The police didn't try and move the victim knowing that they weren't supposed to move someone with probable neck, head and back injuries. She was unconscious. She was covered in blood and her clothes were ripped from the impact of the car and the gravel. An officer wasn't able to get a pulse and CPR was immediately started as the officers waited for the ambulance. The two officers in charge of taking care of the crime scene and evidence starting to paint a picture of what had happened just minutes before. They were on a fairly busy city road through the downtown corridor of Seattle. The officers found the frame of the bicycle was bent and formed a semi-circle. Arizona's body had been thrown off of her bicycle after the car struck her. She landed over ten feet from where her bike had landed. The police could tell by the distance of the victim from the bike and the condition of the bike that she had been hit by a car going at least thirty miles per hour which was above the typical average speed for cars on that road at that time of day. The tire tracks showed that the driver did attempt to stop before the victim was hit but the tire tracks also showed that the driver peeled out to get away from the scene of the crime. Witnesses told the police that a car had veered out of its lane and into the bike lane, hitting the victim. The car didn't stop. The driver hit her and then kept going. As the officers were interviewing witnesses, the ambulance arrived and the paramedics immediately started working. They knew that the victim was in bad shape when they saw an officer performing CPR. They needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible.

**…**

They stood outside waiting on the ambulance. Arizona had her hospital badge on her body so the paramedics knew to bring her to Seattle Grace – Mercy West. The paramedics radioed into the hospital while they were on their way and informed them that one of their doctors had been involved in a hit-and-run. In the few minutes that passed between the phone call and standing outside in the ambulance bay, Hunt had assembled every attending surgeon that wasn't busy and pulled those out of surgery that were. He had ordered that all non-emergent and elective surgeries canceled. He wanted Dr. Robbins to have the best working on her.

"Where's Karev?" Teddy asked as she handed out trauma gowns and noticed that he wasn't assembled with everyone else. Owen had already told her she was not to touch Arizona as a surgeon and that Cristina would do anything cardio related due to their close relationship.

"Surgery," Hunt answered curtly, never taking his eyes off of the open ambulance bay.

"He's her best friend," Teddy stood in front of Hunt, forcing him to make eye contact with her. "He needs to be here."

"He's needed in surgery, Altman. He can't just stop what he's doing. He should be done within an hour."

"She could be dead within the hour!" Teddy screamed.

Callie was pacing as they waited for the ambulances. Part of her would always love Arizona and she couldn't bear to think of her hurt. "Has anyone called her parents?"

Owen shook his head, "No. Karev is her medical power of attorney and listed as her next of kin in her personnel file. It's up to him to call them."

Teddy threw her hands up in the air. She was already upset at hearing that her best friend was critically hurt and the fact that Owen was purposely keeping Alex in the dark made her livid. It reminded her too much of Owen's antics at keeping her from knowing about Henry's death and she didn't like the idea of Alex going through anything like that. "Again, why isn't Karev here? He needs to be here to make decisions! It's up to him to decide how we treat her! Damn it, Owen!"

Derek's voice interrupted the arguing that was about to happen between Teddy and Owen. "They're here."

While the ambulance was pulling into the hospital Teddy pulled Meredith aside, "Call one of the peds attendings. Get them here now. When they get here, you go pull Alex from that surgery. I don't care what the fuck Hunt has to say about it. If he gives you shit, you tell him to talk to me."

Meredith didn't try to argue. She didn't want to. She was on Teddy's side. Alex deserved to know what was going on as soon as he could.

Things moved fast as soon as the ambulance arrived at the hospital. The paramedics hopped out of the bus and starting unloading Arizona. It was a scene that each of these doctors had witnessed thousands of times but seeing one of their own on the stretcher was never easy. Callie, Bailey and Derek took control of the stretcher as they wheeled it into the hospital while Owen stood back to get a report from the paramedics.

"Thirty-five year old female. Bicyclist versus car. Car won. Unresponsive at scene. No pulse when we arrived. Officers performed CPR and we used AED to re-established normal cardiac rhythm. Suspected pneumothorax. Continues to remain unconscious," the paramedic spoke in short sentences as he updated Hunt as to the major conditions that they had discovered during the short ride from the scene to the hospital.

"Thank you," Hunt told the paramedics as he rushed after the stretcher to help control the chaos that he knew was going on in the trauma room.

He could hear everyone arguing in the trauma bay. Each doctor was fighting for what they thought needed to be addressed first. Owen pulled the curtain back behind him, "What do we have?"

"I need a CT to determine brain damage," Derek barked out as he carefully removed the very cracked helmet from Arizona's head. "Did the medics say how long she was without oxygen?"

"Negative. She was unresponsive when they found her," Owen answered.

"She's going to have multiple fractures," Callie said as she prodded Arizona's legs. Her entire lower body was swollen, black and blue. "I'm going to put her pelvic bone back into place. That should help stabilize her. We'll know more after CT."

"Heart and lungs?" Owen directed toward Cristina because Teddy was not allowed to work on her best friend.

"Everything is normal with her heart at this time," Yang answered as she placed a tube into Arizona's throat under Teddy's watch. "Her O2 is low. Probably due to a collapsed lung. Intubated to help bring it back up."

Owen turned to the last doctor in the room, "Bailey?"

Bailey frowned and moved the ultrasound wand over Arizona's abdomen, "There's internal bleeding. Not a lot right now but that could change. We should go ahead and hang some blood."

"Do we have time to run tests first?" Owen asked everyone knowing that running some basic x-rays and tests would give them a better picture and result in fewer surgeries for Arizona in the long run. When no one said no, Owen started to move the stretcher toward the elevator. "Okay, let's get her to CT while she's still stable. Someone get some blood and bring it up to us. Her bloody type is in her personnel file."

The elevator ride up to radiology seemed to take forever. The few minutes that it took to get up to the fourth floor gave everyone in the elevator a chance to really look at Arizona. Before in the trauma room they were focused on diagnosing her injuries and how to treat them, they weren't really looking at her. They were focusing on her parts and not her whole. Her entire body was covered in abrasions. Dark hematomas were also starting to form on her face, arms and legs. The breathing tube down her throat was a stark reminder that she was hurt very badly.

Arizona was soon settled onto the bed awaiting the CT scan while all of the doctors congregated in the side room waiting for the images to load. Just as Arizona's body was about to enter the scanner, a nurse burst into the room causing everyone to look up at her.

"Stop!" The young lady said, slightly out of breath as she had run up the stairs from the laboratory. "Stop," she repeated as everyone just stared at her.

"Miss…" Owen wanted to find out just what was going on and why this nurse that he didn't even recognize why she was being so demanding to the Chief of Surgery.

"Watts," the young nurse answered as she kept glancing and saw that Arizona's body was starting to enter the machine. "Please. You have to stop."

"Okay Miss Watts. Why are we going to stop saving Dr. Robbins' life?"

The nurse shoved a file into Owen's hands, "Dr. Robbins lab work from the blood the paramedics drew. You can't put her through the CT."

Owen scanned the lab work. It all seemed normal until he came across a highlighted value. "Shit," Owen said softly to himself and immediately hit the stop button on the machine. Arizona's head had started to enter the CT machine but Owen was confident that they had stopped it before any damage could be done. "Nice catch, Miss Watts. Thank you," he nodded toward the nurse who he was sure was scared to death after using such a tone with one of the highest ranking people in the hospital.

The nurse took her leave from the room. She had done what she needed to do. She protected her patient.

"We've got to switch to an MRI. Torres you'll have to deal with x-rays," Owen barked causing the residents helping with the case to scamper and move Arizona off of the CT bed and back onto her stretcher for transport to the MRI.

"Chief, CT is really the best…" Callie started to argue that a CT would be the best way to find out about all of the damage that had been done to Arizona's body but Owen cut her off.

"CT is out. It's unsafe for Arizona. She's pregnant. She's stable enough for an MRI so we're doing that," Owen explained as they followed the stretcher down the hall to the MRI machine.

"She's what?" Callie yelled slightly louder than she intended to, caught off guard by the news.

"Pregnant, Torres. I'm not risking the fetus when MRI is just as good for brain imaging and perfectly safe for the baby," Owen lectured the obviously stunned woman.

"Roller girl is pregnant?" Cristina muttered to Bailey as she grabbed Arizona's lab work to see for herself. And it was true. Right there in black and white. Arizona was pregnant.

Everyone was shocked by the news. No one had seen that coming. Teddy wasn't as caught off guard by the others as she had known that Arizona had been considering artificial insemination for months but she still had no idea that Arizona was already trying.

"Owen, make sure OB is in the OR. We need to check to see if the baby even survived the accident," Teddy informed her boss, suddenly much more worried about her friend than she was before.

Callie had a lot of questions at hearing that Arizona was pregnant. It wasn't something she would ever hear in reference to Arizona. Arizona always resisted the idea of her being the pregnant one in a relationship. They had a few minutes to kill while they waited for the MRI to finish so Callie decided to see if she could get some answers. "Teddy, you're her best friend did you know she was pregnant?"

"Don't you think I would have said something when she was brought in?" Teddy said sarcastically before softening as she realized that the stress was getting to her. "No. She's been thinking about trying for like six months now but last I knew she wasn't going to start until later in the spring."

"How far along is she?" Bailey asked as they continued to wait.

"Who knows?" Teddy reached and grabbed the file that had Arizona's labs. "Her hCG is at over fifteen-thousand but you and I both know that those numbers vary widely. I'd say what, between six to ten weeks?"

"Maybe Alex knows," Cristina mused knowing that he was Arizona's most trusted confidant.

After what seemed like hours of waiting but was really less than a half hour Derek finally got his MRI scans. They showed an aneurysm and significant swelling of the brain.

"We need to get in there ASAP. I don't like the way that aneurysm looks," Derek said as he stared at the monitor.

**…**

Meredith stood in the scrub room outside of OR 3. She kept looking through the window into the operating room to see the status of the surgery. She was getting impatient. It took everything she had to not barge in there and tell one of her closest friends what was going on with his best friend. Meredith knew that Arizona wouldn't want her to do that. Not while Alex was busy operating on a child and not when there wasn't anyone around to take over for him. Arizona always put her patients first and Meredith knew that waiting to tell him is what Arizona would want her to do. She had been keeping in touch with Derek through text messages as she waited. She had just received word that he was scrubbing in for surgery and that she should join him as soon as she was done with her mission when the door to the scrub room opened and Polly, Alex's counterpart in the pediatrics department, entered. Polly immediately started scrubbing in. She had been informed about Arizona's accident when Meredith called her to come into the hospital and immediately dropped what she was doing to help out her colleague. Polly asked for an update on Arizona from Meredith but all Meredith knew was that she was stable but critical. Once she was fully scrubbed, Polly entered the operating room intent on relieving Alex of his duties.

Alex turned his head when he heard the door to the operating room open to see who was interrupting his surgery. "What are you doing here?" he asked when he saw Polly walking toward him, fully scrubbed for surgery.

"I'm taking over. Robbins needs you immediately," Polly told him, using the exact words that Meredith had told her to say; they didn't want to alarm Alex while he was still performing surgery. And technically it was the truth. Robbins did need him immediately.

"Why? What's going on?" Alex asked as he continued to work. It was highly unusual to be pulled out of surgery and he was confused.

"Some emergency," Polly continued to remain vague.

Alex knew that Arizona wouldn't pull him if it weren't important so he put down the instruments and stepped away from the table. He quickly updated Polly as to the status of the surgery and left the operating room.

Alex was surprised to see Meredith waiting in the scrub room. He moved to the sink and started to scrub out. "What are you doing here? Waiting on the OR? It should only be another forty minutes or so as long as Polly doesn't screw it up."

"No, I'm here for you," Meredith told him.

Alex continued to scrub his fingers with soap, "I gotta go find Arizona. She needs me for something."

"Alex, it's about Arizona," Meredith said quietly and put her hand on Alex's back.

Alex turned the water off and turned around slowly. Meredith's tone and her touch made him uneasy. He knew something was wrong. He braced himself against the sink as he waited for her to speak.

"There's been an accident. Arizona's hurt."

Alex could tell from Meredith eyes that hurt was probably an understatement about Arizona's condition. "Where is she? I need to see her."

"You can't," Meredith said as she reached her hand out to comfort him.

Alex shook her hand from his body, "Like hell I can't." His heart started to sink. All he knew was that Arizona was hurt and he was being told that he couldn't see her which meant that something was seriously wrong.

"No. You can't Alex. Surgery has probably already started."

"Where is she?" he demanded to know. "I'm going."

"OR 1 but you can't go in there. You're too close to her. You'll just get in the way and you don't want to do that," Meredith said sternly. "Go to the gallery. Teddy is there. She'll fill you in. I need to go help Derek."

"What happened to her?" Alex asked as his emotions started to catch up to him and his eyes started to water. He looked like a little lost boy as he asked for answers.

"Hit and Run. Teddy will update you," Meredith told him as she left him alone in the scrub room and went to scrub into Arizona's surgery.

Alex couldn't move. As soon as Meredith left the room Alex crumbled against the back wall of the scrub room. He felt like he had been punched in the stomach. He couldn't catch his breath. It was difficult for him to comprehend what was going on. He had just seen Arizona not more than four hours ago. She was smiling and happy. She was giving him grief for not telling him about their Valentine's Day plans. Alex's tears had spilled over and he held his head in his hands trying to figure everything out but all he had were more questions. After taking a moment to gather himself, he knew he had to get to the gallery because he needed answers. And more importantly, he needed to see her. He needed to know that she was going to be okay.

**…**

The gallery to OR 1 was dark. Hunt kept the gallery closed out of respect to Arizona. Only Teddy and Alex were to be up there. Arizona's surgery was not going to be a show for residents and interns. Teddy was sitting all alone in the front row. She watched her best friend be prepped for surgery. She watched as her friends put their feelings aside and flipped a switch in their brains. Arizona couldn't be Arizona in the operating room. She couldn't be the perky, always happy woman who was everyone's friend. She was just another patient. They were going about their jobs like it wasn't one of their own on the table. Teddy watched Meredith enter the operating room and knew that if she was there then Alex had been informed about the accident and should be in the gallery soon.

Alex slowly opened the door to the gallery. His eyes were focused straight ahead. He didn't even look to see who was in the room but knew that Teddy was there somewhere. All he could see was Arizona's body on the operating table. All he could see was her beautiful blonde hair that was tinged red with her own blood. He could hear the voices coming from the speaker inside the operating room. Everything sounded fairly normal for the beginning of a surgery. He slowly crept closer to the windows of the gallery. He held his breath as he got closer and he could see just how badly Arizona looked. It killed him to see her battered face with a breathing tube sticking out of her mouth. His heart was breaking seeing Arizona down on the table. He took a deep breath and told himself to think like a doctor and not her boyfriend for the duration of the surgery. He couldn't let himself get emotional. He needed to keep it together for Arizona.

"What happened?" Alex's voice cracked as he stood right in front of the windows and kept his gaze on Arizona on the table in the operating room.

"She was hit while riding to work. The bastard hit her and ran. Cops have a description of the car but nothing yet," Teddy summarized what she had gathered from the paramedics and the police officers that had come to the hospital to check on the patient.

"Fucking bastard," Alex whispered as he looked down in the operating room. He took notice of all of the doctors working. Torres, Shepherd, Yang, Hunt, Bailey and Sloan. He knew that they each served a purpose and needed to know what was wrong. Alex placed his palm on the glass seeking any sort of connection with Arizona that he could. He was afraid to turn around and show Teddy his tears and his vulnerability. "What are her injuries?"

"Lots of fractures. Collapsed lung. Internal bleeding. Brain swelling and aneurysm," Teddy ticked them off. "That's what we know right now. She didn't have a pulse when paramedics got to her." Teddy left out the fact that they had discovered that Arizona was pregnant. Teddy truly believed that Alex already knew that she was pregnant. He was Arizona's confidant so of course he would know. She was actually surprised that he hadn't asked about the baby yet.

Alex felt like his own heart stopped when he heard that Arizona had technically been dead on the scene. Alex tore his eyes from the windows to Teddy in the gallery. His eyes were red and puffy, "I'm going to kill whoever did this to her."

Teddy agreed.

Alex turned back to look at what was going on in the operating room. He was watching Derek closely. Alex knew that Arizona always wore her helmet while on her bike but he also knew that a helmet could only do so much if she was hit at a high speed. All of the rest of her injuries could heal but brain damage could be irreparable – especially if she was without oxygen for a long time.

Alex's legs were starting to feel a bit wobbly as he watched his girlfriend get cut into. He wasn't ever supposed to see Arizona like that. She looked so small and fragile on the table. The only thing that was comforting him was the steady rhythm of Arizona's heartbeat coming through the monitors. As things seemed to be going okay and everything seemed to be going as well as it could be Alex decided to have a seat on the same row as Teddy and watch.

Alex and Teddy sat in silence as they watched and listened. One burden of being surgeons was that they understood how easily things could change in the operating room and they were afraid of all the things that could happen to Arizona.

"Where the hell is OB? They were supposed to be here waiting on us," Hunt yelled to anyone who was listening as he watched the surgery progress from his spot off to the side in the operating room. He turned to a nearby nurse, "Page them again."

Thirty seconds later the nurse replied, "They're on their way."

Alex was confused when he heard Hunt ask for OB. He didn't know why Arizona would need an OB in the operating room unless her uterus was damaged by the accident. "Why is he paging OB?" Alex turned to Teddy.

"Arizona's pregnant," Teddy told him. "Wait. You didn't know?"

Alex's face lost all color. If he wasn't already sitting he would have collapsed. Arizona couldn't be pregnant. They were always very careful. They always used a condom because Arizona wasn't on birth control. He was positive that she hadn't started the insemination process.

"No… she can't be," Alex stuttered as he attempted to process the information. His palms were suddenly sweaty. He was becoming inundated with so many different feelings tugging at his heart.

"It showed up in her blood work. You mean you really didn't know? Because the numbers are pretty high so she would have had to have known."

"No," Alex answered as his eyes filled with tears again. He thought about any indications that would have told him that Arizona was pregnant. She had been tired lately but she had been really busy with work and the holidays so that wasn't unusual. That was the only thing he could think of that might possibly be a pregnancy symptom. He also remembered that Arizona drank the other night. "Arizona didn't know either. She had wine with dinner the other night. No way would she be drinking if she knew. Are we sure she's pregnant?"

"Her hCG was over fifteen thousand, Karev. That is not a mistake."

"Wow," Alex was terrified and overwhelmed. Tears were streaking down his face. Not only was Arizona critically injured but she was pregnant with their child. Not only did Alex have to worry about Arizona but now he had to worry about their baby as well. He was distraught. His mind was racing with one overwhelming thought – he needed to know if his unborn child was okay. He couldn't lose either one of them. "Where the fuck is OB?" Alex yelled, startling Teddy who was sitting near him.

Minutes later Dr. Lucy Fields barged into the operating room. She pulled the portable ultrasound next to Arizona's legs. She had been updated on Arizona's hCG numbers so she knew it would be too early to be able to do an abdominal ultrasound; she would have to do a transvaginal ultrasound.

As soon as Alex saw Lucy come into the operating room he was on his feet again. He was anxiously waiting on news about the baby. His baby. He was pacing in front of the window while nervously chewing on his thumbnail. He couldn't stay still. His entire future was on that operating table. "Please, please, please…" he kept repeating to himself as he waited for Lucy to do the ultrasound. Alex wasn't a praying man but at that moment he sent a silent prayer to any God that would listen to him as he begged for Arizona and their baby to be okay.

It took Lucy a few minutes to get the machine ready. All of the doctors besides Derek stopped working while Lucy took over. Everyone else's work could wait while Lucy worked. Alex could barely make out the ultrasound machine from the gallery. He could see Lucy pressing buttons, zooming in and taking measurements but he couldn't read the screen. The screen was too small to see from the gallery. No one in the operating room was saying anything so Alex had no idea what she had found in Arizona's uterus.

Alex moved to the intercom and pressed the button, "Dr. Fields, can you give me an update?"

Lucy's eyes popped up to see him waiting in the gallery. "Let me work Karev," she barked at him as she turned back to the ultrasound machine. She had been told that Alex was in charge of making Arizona's medical decisions so she didn't think it was odd that Alex was asking questions.

Everyone continued to remain quiet in the OR as Lucy worked and Alex resumed his pacing in the gallery. Finally Lucy looked up into the gallery, "Fetus is measuring at eight weeks and three days. There are no signs of trauma, but they might not show up right away."

Alex stopped his pacing and went back to the intercom, "Heartbeat?"

Lucy looked at Alex and nodded. She hit a button on the machine and the sounds of the fetal heartbeat filled the operating room and filtered into the gallery.

"Thank god," Alex sighed and covered his face with his hands when he heard his baby's heartbeat for the first time. He let out a short laugh as his body started to shake and he sobbed into his hands. That was the best sound he'd ever heard in his life.

"It's a little slow but that's probably due to stress. It should normalize after surgery is over," Lucy explained as she continued to examine the ultrasound.

Alex had to sit down. He was getting lightheaded. He had just found out that he was going to be a father in the most unlikely way. Not only had he just found out that he was going to be a father, he knew that miscarriage rates after trauma in the first trimester were high and just because everything was fine now didn't mean that it was going to stay that way. The baby would need to be checked routinely over the next few days. He couldn't decide if he should be worried or excited. He ended up deciding that he needed to focus on the positive. Until he had reason to believe otherwise, he was going to be a father in eight months.

Teddy kept to herself in the gallery. She and Alex weren't great friends. They were friendly but only when Arizona was around. They wouldn't have picked each other to be a friend. On the rare occasion that they were alone together it was awkward and they struggled for conversation; they normally chose to talk about the weather or a case they shared. Teddy knew that Alex and Arizona had a special relationship. She knew that Alex had a greater claim to Arizona than she did. He was her very best friend and she was only her best friend. Teddy could tell how upset Alex was that Arizona was in such a bad state. Teddy didn't miss the fear that took over Alex's face when he heard that Arizona was pregnant. She didn't miss smile that formed on Alex's face when he heard the heartbeat of Arizona's baby. She also didn't miss the look of amazement on his face as he listened to it. If she wasn't so worried for her best friend she would realize that she had all the clues to solve the mystery about Arizona's love life.

Alex was in his own world for the rest of Arizona's surgery. He couldn't stop his brain from thinking about the baby and Arizona. He did the math. If the baby was measuring at eight weeks that meant that it had really been six weeks since conception due to the way gestation was measured. Six weeks before Valentine's Day was around New Years Eve. That had to be it. It was the one time they had had sex in a four week period surrounding the date. They had used a condom but Alex was learning that the warning on condom boxes was true and condoms weren't one hundred percent effective. Alex was grateful that they weren't. This was a very happy surprise.

His entire world had just changed in a matter of an hour. Despite the fact that his girlfriend, that no one knew was his girlfriend, was currently undergoing brain surgery – Alex couldn't help but smile. He was going to be a dad. He was having a baby with his best friend and lover. When he thought about his future, all he could see was a family with Arizona and now it was coming true. But to have that future he needed both of them, Arizona and their baby, to fight to survive.

A loud beeping noise brought Alex out of his thoughts and wiped the smile off of his face. The operating room that had been calm and orderly had turned to chaos. Hunt and Shepherd were yelling. Monitors were going off. Alex couldn't do anything but watch. Arizona's blood pressure was plummeting and no one knew why.

"Everyone stop," Hunt yelled taking control of the operating room. "Stop. She's bleeding out somewhere and we need to find it but we can't if everyone is talking over each other. Bailey, you find it."

Bailey nodded and started digging around in Arizona's abdomen. Lucy had stayed in the operating room to ensure that they were doing everything they could to protect the baby. Open abdominal surgery would be fine for Arizona and the baby as long as they didn't puncture the uterus.

Alex and Teddy were both on their feet as soon as the monitors went off. They watched as Bailey tried to find the source of the bleeding. It seemed to be taking Bailey forever to find it. Hearing the sound of the beeping machines alerting them to Arizona's critical condition didn't help matters. For the first time, Alex reached out to Teddy and grasped her hand.

"She's strong. She'll pull through," Alex reassured both himself and Teddy.

"She is. Plus she has a baby to fight for now," Teddy added.

Alex squeezed tighter when he was reminded of his baby.

"Got it," Bailey called out. She pulled a bone fragment out of Arizona's liver. "Piece of one of her ribs."

Everyone in the operating room watched as Arizona's blood pressure improved as Bailey stopped the bleeding. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Another crisis avoided.

Alex and Teddy remained in the gallery throughout the rest of the lengthy surgery. They watched as Bailey discovered that Arizona's fractured and splintered ribs sent bone fragments into several other vital organs. Bailey was easily able to remove the fragments and stop the bleeding. Callie took x-rays of almost every bone in Arizona's body. She was able to set and cast a fracture in Arizona's left wrist. The swelling in Arizona's lower body made it impossible for her to fix the fractures she found there. They would have to wait until the swelling went down. Derek had the toughest job. It would take him over five hours to treat Arizona's aneurysm. Alex cringed when he heard the drill put burr holes into Arizona's skull, even though he knew that it was to save her life. As Derek continued to work the gallery started filling with the surgeons that had completed their jobs already. Everyone sat in silence as they watched him work. A huge sigh of relief by everyone was felt when he successfully clipped the aneurysm. Arizona was still alive.

**…**

After all of the different surgeries were completed, everyone convened in the conference room to go over the next steps for Arizona. Owen brought in a white board to use to chart what needed to be done.

"So much for Valentine's Day," Cristina murmured to Meredith as they waited for Owen to start.

"I would have gladly gone to your party instead of being here," Meredith whispered back. "I'm sure Arizona would agree."

"Okay, what now?" Owen effectively silenced the room. He pointed toward the outline of Arizona's body that he drew onto the board. "Where do we go from here?"

"Everything for me is done," Bailey told him. "We should be able to extubate tomorrow. And just do normal post-op checks on her incisions but she should be fine."

"Once the swelling goes down Arizona will need some screws in her left knee. A plate and screws in the left femur. Her pelvic fracture is stable for now but it will probably need plates and screws too," Callie dictated as Owen marked it on the white board.

"She's not going to be walking for a very long time," Cristina remarked after Callie finished.

Bailey took the file she had in her hands and smacked Cristina upside the head for her comment and then nodded at Owen to continue. Everyone knew the severity of the injuries but saying it aloud just made it more real.

"Shepherd?" Owen asked the neurosurgeon.

Derek looked tired. Arizona's emergency surgery had come at the end of his shift but he knew that he needed to be the one to do the surgery. "Her brain is very swollen. I'd like to keep her sedated for at least forty-eight hours to give it time to go down without causing more injury. We really won't know anything about brain damage and the effects of her TBI until she wakes up."

"If she wakes up," Cristina muttered under her breath causing everyone in the room to glare at her. Her snarky comments were not appreciated.

"And finally, Dr. Fields," Owen turned his attention to the one doctor who didn't quite fit in with the group of friends that was gathered in the conference room.

Lucy looked around the room and saw lots of tired and sullen faces. She knew that these were all very good friends of the patient so she tried to keep it positive for them. "I'd like to do an ultrasound daily for the next two days. If a miscarriage is going to happen as a result of the accident, it will happen within the next forty-eight hours. We'll keep an eye on fetal development to make sure the baby is growing. I'll also run labs daily on her progesterone and hCG levels. If those go down that will be the first sign of miscarriage." Lucy paused and looked at Callie, "Dr. Torres, I'd like your help with the ultrasounds as I don't want to disrupt the pelvic fracture."

Callie nodded, "Page me and I'll be there." Callie would do anything to make sure Arizona and her child survived this accident. She remembered how kind Arizona had been during her own accident and would be there for anything that Arizona needed.

Owen put the cap on the marker and set it down on the tray near the board. They had done everything they could do for Arizona. Now it was time to wait. "Karev," Owen addressed the man who had been standing at the back of the room. Alex looked lost as he listened to everyone detail Callie's injuries. He knew she was hurt but seeing it all put up on the board made it a tough pill to swallow. Cristina was right and Arizona wasn't going to be walking for a very long time. She had a long recovery ahead of her. "I'm putting Dr. Sears in charge of peds for the time being. Get with him to figure out a schedule that will work for the both of you. I know you'll want to be with Dr. Robbins but I'm going to need your help with her being out. I'm sure you and Dr. Sears will be able to work out something that works for both of you."

"Okay," Alex told his Chief so as to not be disrespectful. A few years ago he would have told Hunt off for suggesting that he work at a time like this but Arizona had taught him many things and one was biting his tongue when he was going to say something that would get him into trouble. Alex crossed his arms over his torso. He did not want to spend one second away from Arizona but it didn't look like he was going to have a choice. He hoped that Sears would at least allow him to work nights so that he could be with Arizona during the day.

"And Karev," Owen continued. "Have you called her parents yet?"

Alex stuffed his hands in his scrub pockets, "No. They're currently on a cruise in the Mediterranean and unreachable. They won't be back for another week."

Owen nodded and accepted his answer. He dismissed everyone after thanking them for everything that they had done that day. Everyone was eager to head home after being physically and emotionally exhausted by the day. They knew that Arizona would be well taken care of by the staff and Alex.

Teddy hung back and walked with Alex toward Arizona's room in the ICU. "Have you called her girlfriend?"

Alex's looked at her curiously, "What girlfriend?"

"She was about to tell me about her girlfriend yesterday. She said she's been seeing someone and it's getting serious. If it's getting serious, they should know about Arizona. I'm sure she's wondering where her Valentine's date is at. I thought you would know but since you didn't know about the pregnancy, maybe Arizona keeps you in the dark as much as she does me."

Alex chose to ignore Teddy's comments. He knew that Arizona had tried talking to Teddy the day before about them but got interrupted. Now wasn't the time to be spilling secrets. Teddy could think whatever she wanted.

Alex and Teddy stopped outside of Arizona's room. The windows gave them a perfect view into the room where Arizona was laying. She looked so small and fragile in the large hospital bed. She was very pale. It was a far cry from the bright and cheery woman Alex had said goodbye to that morning. The nurses had taken their time and clean all of the dried blood off of her so she looked almost normal if it weren't for the bruises, stitches and the tube coming out of her throat.

Alex pushed open the door to the room and took a seat next to Arizona. He took her uninjured hand and held it in his own as he kissed her forehead. Teddy followed him into the room and took a seat across from him on Arizona's other side. All Alex wanted to do was be alone with Arizona but he couldn't ask Teddy to leave. He could share the space with Teddy but he wasn't giving up holding her hand. Teddy watched as Alex brushed Arizona's hair back from her face. She wondered how she hadn't noticed how tender Alex was with Arizona before.

Teddy spent a few hours with Alex and Arizona. They sat in silence as they watched the machines that continued to display her vital signs. They were both pleased that she appeared to be stable. Teddy finally decided to go home and left Alex with strict instructions to page her if Arizona's condition deteriorated in any way. Once Teddy left the room Alex was finally able to do what he had wanted to since he knew Arizona was injured. He leaned up and made sure that no one was watching through the windows into the room and placed a very gently kiss on the side of her mouth. Her lips were dry and cracked but it was still the best feeling in the world to be able to kiss her. He had spent the last eight hours of his life thinking that he would never get to kiss her again and it wasn't something he would ever take for granted again. Alex let his hand linger on her stomach as he sat back down.

"Zo," Alex sighed as he kissed her hand and gently rubbed her stomach with the other, being careful not to pull on her stitches. Knowing that there was a tiny baby under her skin made him smile. "You have to get better because, and I know this is going to shock you, but we're having a kid. And I can't be solely responsible for this kid cuz I'll just screw it up so you just rest your big brain and get better. You have to come back to me." Alex wiped away a tear that had fallen onto his cheek and rested his head on their joined hands, "I love you so much and I can't do this without you."

**…**

A/N: I try to balance not being able to be too predictable but also making sure I foreshadow major events - so a huge shout out to BuWriter that pretty much figured me out for this chapter in a review for the last one. I hope you liked it!**  
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	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Thank y'all so much for the response on the last chapter! I hope this one can live up to your expectations. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona remained stable while they waited for the swelling in her body to go down. Her blood pressure and heart rate never fluctuated. It was a good sign. A sign that her first surgeries had done the job and were holding. She wasn't getting any worse. Arizona was never without a visitor in her ICU room and Alex was sure that the room would be overflowing with flowers if they were allowed. Arizona's story made the news as the police sought out any leads on the vehicle that hit her. Hearing about a pediatric surgeon being almost killed and left on the side of the road to die ignited an outpouring of support from the community. Everyone wanted to find the silver sedan that hit the bicyclist. The police were hopeful that some good Samaritan would turn the person in if they saw the damaged car on the road or in a body shop but so far there were no leads.

Alex spent every free moment that he could with Arizona. He hadn't left the hospital since the accident. He refused to leave. Everyone told him that he should go home and get some real sleep. They told him that it is what Arizona would want him to do. But he knew the he would get more sleep if he could hear her heart monitors than he could in their empty bed at home. Alex didn't even want to leave her ICU room but he was forced to because of work. He didn't want to be away from her in case something happened but with Arizona being out for the foreseeable future, the pediatrics department needed Alex to help manage things which forced him away from Arizona's bedside. Even though he wasn't even scheduled to be working, he offered to work anyways in a trade for a few days off when Arizona was finally alert and awake. He knew that there was only so much he could do at her bedside besides drive himself crazy as he analyzed her monitors. While Alex was working he made sure that someone was with Arizona. If one of her friends couldn't be there, then he stationed a resident in the room. Everyone was given strict instructions to page him if there were any changes, positive or negative, in her condition. Alex kept himself busy making sure all of Arizona's patients were being well taken care of. He didn't want her to wake up and have to hear about any problems. The only major downside of working was that he hadn't been there for the ultrasounds that Lucy performed on their baby – both of which showed the baby continuing to grow with no abnormalities or signs of trauma.

Forty-eight hours after her first round of surgeries, Arizona's body was ready for the next round. Derek took care of another aneurysm that had formed during the two days between surgeries and Callie had her work cut out for her as she fixed Arizona's shattered bones. Just like the first surgeries, Alex watched every moment from the gallery and was at her side when she was brought back to her ICU room. After two days, Arizona's physical appearance was starting to look a little better. Her battered face was still looking pretty rough as the bruises had turned a nasty bluish-yellow color but it wasn't as swollen as it was before. The breathing tube had been removed and Arizona was breathing well on her own. Alex was extremely grateful that the tube was gone. He loved being able to hear her breathe on her own. She was keeping herself alive instead of needing a machine to do it for her. Also, it was much easier for him to could kiss her lips without a tube hanging out of her mouth. While the external injuries from her accident were starting to heal, it was her brain that worried everyone. After finishing the surgery, Derek decided that the swelling in Arizona's brain had gone down enough to try to let her wake up naturally. No one knew how long it was going take for Arizona to wake up or if she ever would.

Twenty four hours after they had stopped the sedation Arizona still showed no signs of waking up. Alex could tell that Derek was losing hope with each hour that went by without her coming around. He performed another MRI which showed brain activity so there was no medical reason for why Arizona wasn't waking up. Derek said her brain looked like she was dreaming. Alex refused to give up hope. He knew that his Arizona was in there and she would wake up when she was ready. While Arizona might be perky in the morning, he knew that she hated waking up. She took her time waking up from sleep every day. She would snooze her alarm at least once if not two or three times in order to remain in dreamland for just a few more minutes. According to Alex she was just taking her time waking up from her coma just like she did every morning.

Five days after the accident there was another meeting to discuss Arizona's care. They held the meeting in Arizona's room after evening rounds were complete.

"I don't know why she's not waking up," Derek reiterated what he had been saying for days. "The brain is a mystery and we don't know everything about it. It might have just been more trauma than hers can take. We still don't know how long she was without oxygen. More than a few minutes could have caused permanent, irreversible brain damage."

"So you don't think she's going to wake up?" Teddy questioned. Derek had always avoided the question when she asked him privately but in front of everyone she wanted an answer.

"I can't say for sure either way. She could live like this for weeks, months and even years," Derek continued to remain neutral.

Callie wiped a tear from her eye as she gazed at the woman lying in the hospital bed, "Derek, just tell us."

"No. Based on her scans and the fact that she hasn't woken up yet – I don't think she's going to wake up. Based on my personal history with patients, I think if she was going to come out of the coma she would have already."

"What about the baby?" Teddy asked.

"The baby is fine," Lucy answered. "It will continue to grow normally and we can deliver via c-section if Arizona fails to resume consciousness."

"Her parents have already lost one child and now they're losing another," Callie whispered quietly to herself.

Alex had heard enough. He had been standing at the back of the room listening to everyone talk as they reviewed her case. All he heard was everyone giving up on Arizona. And Arizona wasn't a quitter.

"Everyone out!" Alex shouted to the room. "I'm not going to let you guys talk about her like she's dead because she's not," Alex pointed to her heart monitor that showed a steady beat. "She doesn't need all of this negative energy around her. Get out and don't come back until you are ready to fight for her!"

Alex effectively shut up the room. The hardened stare he gave everyone let them know that he meant business. He continued to glare at them as he herded them out of the room. He couldn't believe that all of Arizona's friends were so easily giving up the fight. When the last person left the room, Alex pulled the curtain so that no one could see in the room. He was exhausted and angry. He was angry at everyone that was giving up on Arizona. He was angry at himself for not insisting that Arizona drive to work that day. But most of all he was angry at Arizona for leaving him all alone.

Alex slipped his shoes off and lowered the railing on the side of her bed. For being in such a major accident, the right side of her body was left pretty much unscathed. Alex gently eased himself onto the bed next to her, making sure not to disturb any of her injuries or the medical equipment monitoring her. After hearing everyone give up on her, he needed reassurance that she was still alive. He rested his head on her chest as he felt it rise and fall. Her heart was still beating and she was still breathing.

"I know you're going to come back to me," he whispered as he kissed her. "You and me – we're going to prove them wrong. Don't listen to them because you're going to wake up soon. Then we're going to have a baby and get married and have our happily ever after. But you have to wake up now. Okay? Anytime now…"

Alex spent the night telling Arizona exactly why she needed to wake up. He told her a story; a story about the life that they would share together once she woke up. He was telling her the story just as much as he was telling himself. He couldn't let himself even think about a future in which Arizona never woke up. He just had to keep the faith.

**…**

Several days later Alex was spending his lunch break in Arizona's hospital room. After Alex kicked everyone out the other day, people had come by and apologized to him. They apologized for letting the doubts get the best of them but they were now ready to bring the optimism back to Arizona's case. After a week Arizona had been moved from the ICU into a regular room and Alex was grateful for the added privacy. Arizona's body was healing well and except for all of the braces on her lower body and the cast on her hand she was almost looking normal. Alex had taken to reading to her during his time with her. He knew that there were disputing theories about whether or not coma patients could hear but he figured it couldn't hurt. So he read to her. The one time that he did leave the hospital, he went home to grab some things to make his life more comfortable in the hospital. During that trip he grabbed Arizona's iPad and started reading to her from the books she currently had loaded in it. He also read her the latest medical journal articles knowing that Arizona always liked to be on top of what was going on in the field. He really hoped she was getting something out of it because it was boring him to tears.

Alex was in the middle of reading an article on pediatric congenital heart defects when he felt it. One of the fingers that he was holding in his hand twitched. The movement was so slight that he thought he was imagining it. He looked away from the journal and turned his hand so that Arizona's fingers were resting in his palm. He watched as Arizona's index finger twitched against his palm again. The journal that Alex held in his other hand dropped to the floor.

Alex was afraid to move. He didn't want to do anything to disrupt the movement coming from Arizona. He was afraid if he moved then it wouldn't happen again. "Come on, Zo," he pleaded. "Do it again."

The next time three of her fingers moved in his.

Alex smiled and closed his fist around Arizona's fingers in excitement. "I'm here. It's Alex. Come on and wake up for me, babe."

Alex held his breath and waited for Arizona to do something again. After a few moments he was rewarded with a moan.

"Come on," he pleaded again as he ran his hand through her hair. "I know you hate waking up but you've been sleeping for ten days. I think that's enough sleep."

Arizona moaned again and rolled her head toward him. Her eyes slowly opened.

Alex leaned onto her bed and pushed her hair behind her ear so he could see her eyes better, cupping her bruised cheek when he was done. "Hey beautiful," he greeted the weary woman who was trying to wake up. He knew he should page Shepherd but he wanted a few minutes with her alone first. Once word got out that she was awake she would be taken for tests and everyone would be visiting.

Arizona worked hard to open her eyes. She heard Alex talking to her but she couldn't get her eyes to work. She wanted to see him. She loved looking into his eyes. But her eyes weren't working. She felt so much pressure in her head that she felt like it had to be underwater but she didn't feel wet. Arizona started to get scared. Nothing felt right and nothing was working on her body. She decided to focus on her eyes. She needed to see Alex. If she could see Alex then he could tell her what was going on with her body. After a few moments of concentrating, she was finally able to open her eyes but she couldn't get them to focus. She felt a warm hand on her cheek and knew that it was Alex even if she couldn't get her eyes to look at him. Everything was fuzzy as her eyes darted around the room. She couldn't tell exactly where she was. It felt familiar but strange at the same time. She tried to open her mouth to speak but that was even harder than opening her eyes. She was becoming more and more afraid as the moments passed by; she felt trapped in her own body. She had no idea why her body hurt so badly and why it was so difficult to move. Her body started to tremble in fear.

Alex immediately recognized the fear in her eyes as they continued to flutter around the room. He continued to stroke her cheek, "It's okay, Arizona. You were in an accident but you're going to be okay. I promise."

Alex didn't understand why Arizona was so slow to respond. He had dealt with many coma patients and typically when they woke up they woke up fully but Arizona was acting very out of it. He didn't think she was very conscious of what was going on around her. Ever since the accident he never entertained the idea that Arizona would have any brain damage but now he wasn't so sure. It was time for him to page Shepherd.

By the time Derek made it to Arizona's room she was unconscious again. Derek reassured Alex that it was a good thing that she had woken up even if she was out again. She was starting the process. Plus, she was on so many drugs and painkillers that she shouldn't be expected to stay awake for long. Her body had just undergone severe trauma and the more time she spent resting the better. He was confident that while her brain was slow to respond she would get there. Arizona spent the next two days fighting to get her brain to work. She would wake up every two to three hours throughout the day. Each time she would be more and more alert. Alex was by her side each time she woke up to reassure her that she was okay. A physical therapist was also there every time she woke up to be able to help her regain function faster. Each time she woke up she was able to move her body a little easier. She was able to speak instead of just moan. Each time she would wake up she would remember more about what she had been told the last time she was awake. She was slowly getting there. Her brain was recovering.

**…**

Alex was a walking zombie. He was surviving on coffee alone. Owen had tried to force him to leave the hospital but he refused. He wasn't leaving Arizona. The only person that could force him to leave the hospital was still fighting hard to get better. After Arizona had woken up he cashed in a few favors from his fellow attendings to help cover his assigned shifts so that he could be with Arizona. He needed to be with her. He knew that he could help keep her calm down each time she would wake up and was afraid of what was happening to her. It was his job to take care of her and he wasn't letting anyone else take over his job even for a few hours.

"Have you told her yet?" A voice came from behind as he was pouring his coffee in the lounge.

"No," Alex answered and turned around to find Lucy glaring at him.

"Alex. She's been awake for five days," she started to chastise her ex-boyfriend before he interrupted her.

Alex pushed past her and sat on the couch, "And yesterday was the first day that she remembered anything from the day before. Okay? I'm telling her today. She's finally fully alert when she's conscious. Derek says she's almost back to one hundred percent mentally. I didn't want to tell her before only to have her forget it. It's kind of a big deal, you know? Finding out you're going to have a baby is a huge deal. It's life changing and I want her to remember it."

"Good. Because I wanted to do an ultrasound today and she might wonder if she was forgetting something when I'm down between her legs," Lucy tried to make a bad joke about Arizona's sexuality. She could tell the toll that all of this had taken on Alex and wanted to try to cheer him up.

Alex squinted his eyes at his ex. He could tell that Lucy was trying to make some type of joke but it made no sense to him. "I'm sure she'll like that. The ultrasound not the you being down there," Alex shuddered at the sexual nature of the comment. "She'll want to see that everything is okay for herself. I know she's going to be really worried about the baby's health."

Lucy moved to sit next to Alex on the couch. It had been awhile since she had been with Alex and she had forgotten how much she really did like him. Seeing how dedicated he was to Arizona only made her like him more. Even though she originally broke up with Alex because of his friendship with Arizona, she now saw that as a positive – that Alex was a deeply caring man who wanted to protect his friends. Lucy put her hand on Alex's knee, "I think Arizona is firmly out of the woods now and on the road to recovery. Why don't I treat you to a beer tonight? You deserve it after everything you've been doing for the last two weeks. Arizona wouldn't mind."

Alex picked Lucy's hand up off of his knee and put it in her lap. He belonged to Arizona and didn't want anyone else's hands on his body. "I'm not leaving Arizona. And I have a girlfriend."

"Sorry. I didn't know." She could tell she hit a nerve so she elected to get out of the awkward situation as quickly as possibly. She got up from the couch and straightened her lab coat, "I'm free at ten for the ultrasound. I'll make sure Torres is there to help. Don't want to hurt the pelvic bone she just repaired."

Alex nodded and finished his drink. He was incredibly nervous about telling Arizona about the baby. He could have told her the day before, she was fully alert then but he kept putting it off. This was huge news. The biggest news that Arizona would ever get and he didn't know how she was going to react. He knew it would be a surprise and he hoped that it would be a good surprise but he still didn't know. He knew that Arizona had wanted babies but it was the idea of his babies that worried him since they had never actually talked about having children together. He could only hope that she wanted his babies because he really wanted her babies and more specifically their baby that was currently growing inside her. Alex jumped when the pager attached to his hip buzzed and jolted him out of his stream of thoughts. Alex glanced at the pager hoping that it wasn't work related. He was only supposed to be doing rounds that day. Alex smiled when it was a message from one of Arizona's nurses letting him know that she was awake and refusing to eat breakfast. Arizona was definitely back if she was giving the nurses a hard time.

Ten minutes later Alex arrived at Arizona's room with a bag of doughnuts from the cafeteria. He knew they weren't the designer doughnuts she would typically want but he didn't have time to run to the bakery. Even if they were crappy hospital doughnuts they were still a huge step up from the eggs and toast that the hospital provided for her.

"My hero," Arizona called out dramatically when she saw Alex walk into the room with a white bag and a coffee. She knew that in that white bag had to be her very favorite comfort food. If it didn't then it was cruel and unusual punishment to tease her like that. Since she had woken up from the coma she had been forced to eat the cafeteria food and she was so over the bland, tasteless diet. She hadn't even been hungry until that morning but they kept forcing food into her, claiming it would help her recovery.

Alex rolled his eyes as he placed the bag on Arizona's bedside table. Arizona slowly reached out to grab the coffee. Since she had woken up it took considerable concentration for her to move her body but it seemed to be a bit easier that morning. She was able to grab the coffee without having to think about how to move her hand. Alex was pleased that her movements were getting better but he still slapped her hand away, "None for you."

"Why?" Arizona whined and gave him her best sad face, which was pretty good when she was covered in cuts and bruises. She could ask him for the world and he would give it to her looking like that.

"You're not allowed caffeine," Alex told her. It was true she wasn't allowed caffeine due the fact that it would thin out her blood but Alex was thinking more along the lines of her pregnancy when he told her no.

Arizona pouted. The nurse that had been changing out her IV bag laughed at Arizona's antics before leaving the room and leaving them alone.

"Alex," Arizona whined even louder now that the two were alone. She thought she could get him to break the no caffeine rule. "Please?"

"Arizona, why do you need coffee? You are barely awake for two hours at a time because of your meds."

"That's exactly why! I want to be awake more. I feel like I'm missing out by sleeping all the time."

Alex reached out and pulled out a doughnut and put it in Arizona's good hand before sneaking a brief kiss. "You're recovering. You need your rest. Your body needs time to heal."

"Alex," she pouted again. "This place is lame."

Alex perched himself on Arizona's bed. "You almost died on me, Zo. So you're going to stay in that hospital bed for as long as you need to and you're going to sleep when your body wants to sleep. Got it?"

"Fine," Arizona huffed and slowly brought the doughnut up to her mouth. "At least I get doughnuts."

Alex enjoyed being able to watch Arizona eat a doughnut. Her hand eye coordination was getting better and she was able to eat without help. For awhile he thought he might never get to see her enjoy the treat again. Her face was starting to heal but the lingering bruises reminded him each time he looked at her what she had been through. Not that her lying in a hospital bed would let him forget it either.

"What? Do I have powdered sugar on my face?" Arizona asked as she noticed Alex staring at her. She forgot for a moment that her left had been put in a cast and went to wipe her face, nailing herself with the clunky cast right in the nose. "Ouch," she muttered as she glared at the bright purple cast on her hand.

"No. You're perfect," Alex smiled and leaned up to kiss her again after quickly glancing to make sure no one was outside her room. It was probably the hardest thing he had ever done but throughout the ordeal he never once let on that Arizona was anything more than his best friend to their colleagues. He didn't want to out Arizona without her okay – which she couldn't give while she was unconscious. He wasn't sure what he would have done if she had never woken up but luckily he didn't have to deal with that.

"Then what?" she asked suddenly aware that Alex was still staring at her.

Alex took a deep breath and got up to pull the curtain around the room so that no one could see in from the wall of windows. When he returned he scooted his chair closer to Arizona's bed. It was time for her to know. "There's something that I haven't told you yet. Something we discovered after your accident."

Arizona panicked. Alex was being serious so they must have found something bad – especially if they had been keeping it from her. "What? Is it cancer? Is my white count low?"

Alex grabbed her good hand to help calm her. "It's nothing bad. Don't worry. It's good news. At least I think it's good news. It's actually not something that I thought I'd ever have to tell a woman. Women tell men this but not the other way around so this is very weird for me," Alex rambled as he started to get nervous about Arizona's reaction.

"Alex! Focus!" Arizona interrupted. "Just tell me."

Alex nodded and played with Arizona's hand in his. "Okay. I'm just going to say it." Alex looked up at Arizona who just nodded at him to continue. He held her gaze. "You're pregnant."

Arizona's eyes popped out of her head. That was not what she had been expecting to hear. "What? I'm wh – what?" she stuttered when she found her voice.

"You're pregnant," Alex reiterated. "Almost ten weeks now. Your hCG was off the charts when they brought you in."

The words "when they brought you in" resounded in Arizona's head and she remembered exactly why she was in the hospital bed. She hadn't processed the pregnancy yet but she was immediately concerned about the baby. Arizona instinctively took her good hand away from Alex and moved it toward her stomach. "The accident? Alex?" Arizona asked as she glanced from her stomach to Alex and back.

Alex knew what she was asking but couldn't verbalize. "The baby is fine," Alex got up and grabbed Arizona's chart knowing that she wouldn't feel better until she saw proof. Alex flipped to the latest ultrasound from a few days ago and put it on her lap. "This was the day that you started waking up. Everything looks really good. Lucy said if something was going to happen it would have happened already."

"And the meds? Alex, I'm on like thirty different drugs. That can't be good."

"They are all safe. I triple checked every one myself," Alex reassured as Arizona continued to stare at the pictures in the chart.

Arizona's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the ultrasound pictures. She ran her fingers across them. The baby pretty much looked like a tadpole at this stage but it was still her baby. "H-h-how?" Arizona asked as she looked up at Alex with glassy eyes. "I had my period like three weeks ago."

Alex sat on the edge of her bed so that he was facing her and wrapped one arm around her waist to keep a physical connection as they spoke, "You know as well as I do that period-like bleeding during pregnancy isn't that abnormal. And well, the math works out to be New Years Eve. And the rest…well what they teach in school is right and abstinence is the only method of birth control that is one hundred percent effective."

Arizona went quiet as she thought about everything that she just learned. It was a lot to take in. Alex didn't know how to take Arizona's silence. She was normally impossible to shut up so to have her quiet was unnerving. Alex didn't want to interrupt her silence. He had over two weeks to come to grips with the news that Arizona was just learning. He would have been speechless too if it was Arizona that had told him they were having a baby. She needed her time to wrap her head around it too. So he sat and waited for her to say something.

"Are you happy?" Arizona asked as she took her eyes off of the ultrasound pictures and looked at Alex. "Are you happy about the baby?" She had to know how Alex felt. He knew that she had wanted a baby. But Alex never really spoke about wanting children. He never vocalized his opinion when the topic came up. He would always talk about how cute, beautiful and smart her child would be but he never talked about having children himself. Arizona was worried that Alex wasn't as happy about this baby as she was. She was shocked but thrilled.

Alex shifted and grabbed her good hand with both of his as spoke from his heart. "When I found out that you were in an accident I," Alex started to get choked up as he remembered back to the day Arizona was injured. "I felt like someone had ripped my heart out when I walked into the gallery and saw Derek Shepherd cutting into your brain. And then minutes later I found out that you were pregnant. And I was _terrified_. I mean, you were barely alive after the accident, how could a baby survive that? I was so worried. I had to prepare myself for the worst but then Lucy found a heartbeat. And wow. That is seriously the best sound ever. Arizona, we're having a baby and I am so incredibly happy about that. Still terrified and worried but I think that's normal for a father." Alex paused to wipe away the tears that were coming down his face as well as Arizona's. "We're having a baby," he repeated as he smiled widely at Arizona who was mirroring his smile.

"We're having a baby," Arizona agreed as she tugged on Alex's hands. She needed him closer to her.

Alex climbed into the bed and lay down on Arizona's good side. He rested his head so that it was next to Arizona's. "We're having a baby," Alex couldn't stop saying it. It was starting to feel real now that Arizona knew.

"I love you so much," Arizona whispered quietly as the tears continued to come down her face. She felt so incredibly lucky that both she and her baby were okay after such a horrible accident. She felt even luckier that she had Alex to look after both of them.

Alex scooted as close as he could on the hospital bed without hurting Arizona. He brought his lips to meet hers, "I love you too." Their tears mingled together as their kiss turned passionate. Alex put all of the emotion of the past week into the kiss. Alex pulled back when Arizona started laughing against his lips, "What?"

"I can't even imagine the gossip going on around the hospital about me right now," Arizona giggled. "The brain dead, pregnant lesbian. Is it an immaculate conception?"

Alex laughed with her, "There are a lot of theories. I haven't said anything about my involvement. I've mostly avoided the cafeteria and all the gossip. I didn't know what you'd want me to say anything at all or if I was the sperm donor or –"

Arizona cut him off, "You're the father and I don't care who knows it. Or what they say about it…or me. I almost died. I should have died from the sound of it. I'm going to have to completely learn how to walk again. I have much bigger problems to worry about so I don't care what people think anymore. That's suddenly not so important. You and me and this baby – that is what's important."

Alex couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He had been fine with Arizona taking her time with letting people in on their secret but it felt damn good to hear her throw all cares away. But she was right. The accident was able to put everything into a much better perspective. "So no big grand announcement about us then, huh? No making out in the cafeteria?" Alex teased Arizona with her earlier remarks about how she would never make such a public announcement.

"Right. Just a baby. That's not so big. At least right now, it's like what the size of a lime?" Arizona joked back as she continued to wipe the happy tears that were flowing freely from her eyes.

Alex's pager went off effectively putting an end to their moment. He picked it up off the bedside table, "Shit. I forgot about rounds. Good thing they can't start without me." Alex grabbed his lab coat off the chair and leaned back over Arizona and gave her a lingering kiss. "Lucy's going to do another ultrasound at ten today. Don't start that without me either, please."

**…**

Arizona was surprised that she had been left alone for so long after Alex left for rounds. Her room had become a revolving door for the hospital staff. It wasn't just her doctors checking up on her, it was her friends stopping to say hi and talk. Apparently that day everyone had to actually work. Arizona found herself missing the constant company. Being alone gave her too much time to think. After Alex's announcement all she could think about was that she had a baby coming in less than eight months and she was currently bedridden. She had a lot of work to do before the baby was born.

Teddy was a welcome sight when she walked into the room. Arizona needed the distraction from her worries about the future and her recovery.

"Hey," Arizona waved as Teddy closed the sliding door to her room.

Teddy took the seat next to Arizona's bed, "You're looking so much better." Teddy was amazed at how rapidly Arizona was improving. They were all very worried about potential brain damage but so far it didn't look like there would be many lasting effects.

"I will take that as a compliment," Arizona smiled. She couldn't remember much about the first two days she was awake but Alex had told her that they had been very worried about her speech and motor skills.

"Well seeing as how two days ago you could barely talk and now you're speaking in complete sentences I'll take it."

"Me too," Arizona agreed as she picked at the quilt on her lap. It was one of the things Alex had brought from home during his one trip since the accident. He thought that Arizona would appreciate the comfort of something familiar instead of an itchy hospital blanket.

"You seem happy," Teddy noticed Arizona's abnormally perky mood. Most of the time when Teddy visited Arizona had been grumpy and complaining about everything involved with a lengthy hospital stay.

"I was hit by a car going thirty miles per hour, thrown ten feet onto the sidewalk and survived. You'd be happy too."

Teddy smiled as she realized that Alex must have finally told her. Nothing else would explain her perky mood. "Alex told you."

Arizona giggled, "Yep. How am I the last to know? I still can't believe it. I've seen the pictures but it doesn't seem real."

Teddy leaned back and rested her feet on the edge of Arizona's hospital bed. "It was a pretty big shock to all of us as well. I thought that was maybe what you were trying to tell me the day before the accident but then Alex told me that you didn't know."

Arizona sighed. She figured it was going to start leaking out so she might as well have control over setting the rumors straight. "Right. No I was going to tell you something else."

"That you and Karev are together," Teddy cut her off before she could continue.

Arizona's mouth dropped open and she her eyebrows furrowed. She had no idea how Teddy figured it out. "What? How did you? Wait," Arizona stumbled. "How did you know?"

Teddy put her feet on the floor and scooted closer to the bed. "I'll take that as confirmation?"

Arizona nodded.

"I sat in the gallery with Alex while you were in surgery. Distraught is an understatement for how he looked. I think I spent more time watching him than I did the surgery. When he found out that you were pregnant – it was like a switch flipped for him and he immediately went into protective papa bear mode while we waited for the ultrasound. We were all concerned for you and the baby but Alex – he was on another level completely. Then Lucy got the heartbeat and I don't think I've ever seen Alex smile like that before. I mean the guy rarely smiles as it is but to be smiling like that when you were still in critical condition. That's when I figured that he had to be the father. At first I figured it was just as a sperm donor until I started to put the pieces together. Little things that apart would be nothing like catching you and Alex alone in the dark in your office," Teddy paused to wink at Arizona. "But put together, along with you having this _complicated_ new relationship. Plus, I got suspicious when Alex said he had no clue about your girlfriend when I asked him to call her about your accident and over the last two weeks no one claiming to be your girlfriend has shown up to visit you. There is no way the person you were dating would not show up to see you after the story made the news. But it turns out the person you're dating has been to see you and in fact has barely left your side. I'm actually disappointed in myself that it took me this long to figure it out."

"I was going to tell you the other day. It was time to stop hiding it." Arizona pointed to her stomach, "And now there's really no point."

"So how long?" It was time for Teddy to get some details.

"It started after the shooting in Malawi. We fought our feelings for months but it was no use so we started dating quietly."

"And now you're having a baby."

"And now we're having a baby. A very unplanned, unexpected but very welcome surprise."

"And you're happy?" Teddy asked. She figured Arizona was but she wanted to hear it for herself. She would have never put Arizona and Alex together but the more she had thought about it over the last few days the more it seemed like a good match.

Arizona reached out to grab Teddy's hand. "So happy. I'm so glad you know. You have so much to catch up on!"

"No time better than the present," Teddy got comfortable in her chair. "You're stuck in that bed and I have an hour before my next surgery. So I can't wait to hear how you and Alex got together. You do know he's a man right?"

Arizona laughed and started telling the story from the beginning. Teddy wanted all of the details and Arizona was happy to supply them. Arizona was grateful to have someone to finally be able to talk to everything about. Alex was great at listening but girl talk was vital, especially when talking about relationships. When Teddy had to finally run off to surgery she promised to return as soon as she could as they had barely scratched the surface on the Alex and Arizona relationship.

**…**

Alex returned to Arizona's room with plenty of time to spare. Arizona was dozing when he arrived so he pulled his iPad out of his bag to get some work done while he waited. Once she was awake Arizona spent the rest of their wait for Lucy badgering Alex about when she was getting sprung from the hospital and when she was going to be able to start physical therapy on her leg. She wanted to get started as soon as possible. She wanted to be back to one hundred percent before the baby was born and she knew that with her complex injuries that was going to be a difficult task. Alex did his best to remind her that she couldn't push herself and that her body had just been through an unimaginable trauma but Arizona didn't want to hear it.

Lucy almost thought she had walked into the wrong room when she heard the raised voices coming from the other side of the curtain. Lucy stared at Alex who was shaking his head at Arizona as she continued to spout from the mouth not realizing that someone had else had entered the room. "Whoa, I might only be an OB but I'm thinking that this is not good for the patient, Karev."

Both Alex and Arizona's mouths snapped shut and their heads turned toward Lucy. Arizona's head only a little slower to make the turn after the accident.

"Sorry," Alex immediately apologized like a scolded little boy. Until he opened his mouth again and sounded like his true self, "But she's being stupid."

Arizona turned back toward Alex and growled, "I am not being stupid, Alexander. I'm having a baby in eight months and I would kind of like to be able to walk by then."

"And you will but you're not going to rush this, Arizona," Alex fought back.

"I'll do what I need to do and you can't stop me."

Lucy stood back and watched the pair fight. She didn't want to get in the middle of it. Alex and Arizona both looked like they might hit her if she tried to say anything again.

"Watch me, Arizona," Alex stood his ground.

Callie's appearance in the hospital room also went unnoticed by the pair who were continuing to bicker.

"What are they doing?" Callie whispered to Lucy while staring at the two arguing by the hospital bed.

"Fighting," Lucy stated the obvious. She was enjoying watching the show. For someone who had been in a coma for a week, Arizona was having no problem putting Alex in his place.

"Shouldn't we stop them?"

"I tried. They ignored me."

Callie decided that she had to stop them. The arguing couldn't be good for Arizona. She was barely out of a coma. It couldn't be good at all. "Hey!" she called. "Stop!"

"Torres!" Alex barked and smirked at Arizona. "She'll be on my side. Tell Arizona that she's an idiot for thinking that she'll be walking in two months."

Callie scrunched her face. She had been thinking that it would take Arizona at least five months to walk and almost a full year before she was fully recovered. "That is definitely not going to happen. Sorry, Arizona."

"Told you," Alex grinned.

Arizona stuck her tongue out and rolled her eyes at the man next to her. "Then three months. And no later. I am going to kick PT's ass."

Callie started to speak up and say three months wasn't going to happen either but Arizona looked a little crazy and she didn't want to poke the bear.

When Lucy's nurse arrived in the room with the ultrasound machine Lucy intervened before the pair started arguing again. "Okay. Let's get started shall we."

"Yes!" Arizona answered excitedly as she continued to scowl at Alex. She was more than ready for the ultrasound. She knew she was pregnant but she needed to see it for herself to cement it in her mind since she any pregnancy symptoms she might have had were hidden behind her accident and all of her medicines.

"Okay, so Dr. Torres is going to help me get your pelvis into position. Good news is that this should be the last ultrasound we need to do internally," Lucy explained as she pulled on a pair of gloves.

Arizona hadn't even thought about how her fractured pelvic bone would impact the pregnancy. "Is everything going to be okay… with my injuries and being pregnant? A baby sitting on a fractured bone can't be good, can it?"

Alex reached out and held Arizona's hand as she started to freak out. All anger about their previous fight was forgotten as they focused on their baby.

"It'll be fine. Dr. Torres tells me that your pelvic fracture should be healed in about twelve weeks so it won't interfere with anything. You'll experience more pain on a daily basis and you might have to have a c-section rather than a natural birth, but that is something we'll deal with when we get there but everything will be fine for the baby," Lucy explained while getting everything ready.

"Arizona, this is going to put a lot of pressure on your pelvic bone and it's going to hurt," Callie explained as she readjusted the bed to the proper position. This was the first ultrasound that Arizona would be conscious for and she was worried about the pain. "Alex, could we get her some pain meds for this?"

"No!" Arizona interrupted. "No meds. I'll deal with the pain. I don't want to be out of it for this. The entire hospital has seen my baby but me. We're doing this without pain meds."

Callie nodded. She understood what Arizona was saying. She wouldn't want to be high on pain meds either when seeing her baby for the first time. Callie couldn't help but remember the first time she had heard her daughter's heartbeat for the first time. Arizona and Lucy were there for that too. The only difference was who was in the hospital bed and the man standing next to her.

Once the nurse assisting Lucy had everything ready to go, Lucy turned to Alex. "Karev, you think you could give us some privacy for this?" Lucy was only looking out for her patient. Alex hadn't been there for any of the other ultrasounds. He was always working when Lucy had done them before. An internal ultrasound would have Arizona exposed and even though Alex was a fellow doctor that was still an intimate position for him to see his friend in.

Alex looked at Lucy awkwardly. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know if he should stay or go or say something. He definitely didn't want to go. He knew Arizona had said that she didn't care who knew but saying and actually having it happen were two different things.

Arizona answered for him. She tugged him closer toward her with their still joined hands. "Alex isn't going anywhere."

"Right," Lucy started working between Arizona's legs. "You're going to feel a little bit of pressure… well in your case probably some pain too."

Alex and Arizona stared at the ultrasound monitor as Lucy maneuvered the ultrasound wand into position. Alex could tell by the strength that Arizona was using to clutch his hand that she was in a lot of pain but she was trying to hide it. Callie stood off to the side watching to make sure that Lucy didn't move the wand in a way that would damage Arizona's pelvic bone. It took a minute for Lucy to have the image of the baby on the monitor. Once she had a clear image she tilted the monitor so that Arizona could see it better. She started to explain what they were seeing but Arizona wasn't listening to her. She knew how to read an ultrasound. She didn't need Lucy Fields explaining things to her – especially about her baby. Arizona was in awe as she looked at the baby that appeared to be right on track for development.

"Wow," she sighed as Lucy continued to babble about amniotic fluid.

Alex squeezed her hand as he watched. He too was in awe. "Told you."

"I believed you but still… this makes it so much more real," Arizona explained. Never taking her eyes off of the monitor.

"Now for the heartbeat," Lucy said as she hit a button that allowed the sound of the heartbeat to fill the room.

The heartbeat pushed her over the edge. "Alex," Arizona said as her eyes filled with tears. She finally took her eyes off of the machine and turned to Alex, "That's our baby. We're really having a baby."

"Yeah, that's our baby," Alex smiled and wiped the corner of her eyes gently.

Callie and Lucy were shocked as they listened in on Alex and Arizona's conversation. They were speaking a little softer than a normal conversational level but not quiet enough to have their words missed by the others in the room. Lucy's mind immediately assumed that Alex was just the sperm donor while Callie wasn't so sure and started to think that maybe there was more to Alex and Arizona than everyone knew. She had noticed the way that Alex cared for Arizona and not just while she was in the hospital; Alex had been taking care of Arizona for months if not years. Callie thought that maybe they were just having a baby together as friends – almost like what she was going to do with Mark. The only thing keeping Callie from thinking that they were truly together was the fact that she never thought Arizona would be in a relationship with a man.

Arizona smiled and let go of his hand so that she could latch onto Alex's shirt and pull him closer. "That's our baby," Arizona whispered as she pulled his lips onto hers. She needed a physical connection with Alex as she watched their baby float in her. She needed an outlet for all of the emotion she was feeling – the love she had for Alex and for her unborn child. She poured all of that emotion into her kiss with Alex.

Callie and Lucy tried not to stare as Alex and Arizona kissed right next to them. They wanted to turn their heads and give them privacy but it was Alex Karev and Arizona Robbins making out. They were both unsure if they were seeing things or not because surely they didn't just see Arizona kiss Alex; they weren't watching Alex and Arizona's mouths move together. But they were. The idea that Alex Karev was the sperm donor or that they were going to co-parent as friends just went out the window.

Callie, Lucy and the nurse soon found their shoes very interesting when Alex and Arizona stopped kissing and started whispering to each other before they turned their attention back to the ultrasound. Lucy picked up right where they left off without acknowledging the brief make out session at all. She was used to her patients and their public displays of affection during an ultrasound of their child. She just didn't expect to see this patient doing that. Lucy printed out pictures and told them that everything looked perfect. Callie, Lucy and the nurse left the room as quickly as they could, still in shock about what they had seen.

Alex rested his hand on Arizona's stomach as soon as the others left the room. "I'm pretty sure the whole hospital is going to know now. Callie and Lucy might have kept their mouths shut but no way is that nurse not going to be gossiping about this. She always flirts with me when I'm up in the NICU so I know she's going to spread this as some form of payback for never asking her out."

Arizona used her free hand to beckon him closer. It felt so freeing to be able to kiss her boyfriend in front of others that she wasn't done kissing him yet. "And I'm pretty sure I told you that I didn't care anymore."

After a few more minutes of making out Arizona groaned in pain and pushed Alex away before sinking back into her bed. "Can I get those pain killers now?"

"Anything you want."

Alex returned a minute later with a syringe and pushed it into Arizona's IV.

Arizona's face instantly relaxed and her smile grew even wider. Alex could tell that she was feeling a lot better already. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked while settling back into his assigned seat next to Arizona's bed.

Arizona tried to shake her head but the effects of the drugs were already hitting her. "Be here when I wake up?" she asked with only minimal slur to her speech.

Alex lifted her hand and kissed it, "Of course."

"I love you," Arizona murmured before succumbing to sleep.

"I love you too," Alex leaned up to place a kiss on her lips. Once he was sure that she was asleep he pulled his iPad back out. He wasn't doing work this time. He was going to be a father in less than eight months. He was a pediatric surgeon so he was used to being around kids but he got to leave those kids at the hospital. This one he'd be bringing home. This was a whole new ball game and he had a lot of research to do.

**…**


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: A little delay in posting thanks to the severe winter storms we've gotten here in the Seattle area this week. Thanks for the great responses on the last chapter. Now let's see what everyone thinks now that the secret is out. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

This was big news. Huge news. Meredith could barely believe it. She wouldn't have believed it if the nurse that told her hadn't have sworn on her own child's life that it was true. Meredith had to tell Cristina. Gossip like this was meant to be spread. Derek wasn't at work and he wouldn't have cared about the gossip. But she knew that Cristina would freak out over it. This was the biggest piece of gossip heard in the hospital since Callie had gotten knocked up with the spawn of Sloan. She knew that Cristina would hurt her if she wasn't told immediately. Meredith spent thirty minutes searching the hospital for Cristina. She searched all of Cristina's typical hangouts when she finally found her in the Chief's office eating lunch with her husband. Owen took one look at Meredith's facial expression as she stood in the doorway and knew he was being kicked out of his own office. Owen kissed Cristina on the cheek and left the girls alone. He only hoped that whatever was so important wasn't going to kick him out of his own bed that night.

Meredith paced in front of the couch Cristina was sitting on. She couldn't find the words to verbalize the latest gossip. She still couldn't believe that it was true.

"What is it?" Cristina asked. "What'd McDreamy do this time? Do I need to kick his ass?"

Meredith stopped and sat next to Cristina, "No. This has nothing to do with McDreamy. McDreamy is still Dreamy. Do you remember us talking to Alex about his girlfriend right before Valentine's Day?"

"Yeah," Cristina took a bite of pasta. "Did you find out who she is? Cuz I'm starting to think she's probably imaginary. I mean he's been living at the hospital since Robbins' accident so even if he did have a girlfriend she probably dumped him for caring about his boss more than her."

"That's just it, Cristina. His girlfriend is Robbins. Arizona is his girlfriend."

Cristina's mouth dropped open, "No way."

"Way."

"Seriously? No way…" Cristina couldn't believe it but she could tell by Meredith's face that she wasn't joking.

Meredith told Cristina everything she knew, "One of the OB nurses told one of my neuro nurses that she saw them making out while Lucy was doing an ultrasound on Arizona this morning."

"That means…"

"Yep. Alex is the baby daddy."

"No way," Cristina repeated. She was having a hard time wrapping her head around the news. "How the hell did this happen?"

"No idea," Meredith shrugged. She was just as puzzled as to how the hospital's most well known lesbian and its most well known asshole got together.

Cristina wanted answers and she figured who better to give them than the man himself. She hopped off the couch and threw her bowl into the trash. "Come on, we're going to find Karev," Cristina said as she latched onto Meredith's arm and dragged her from the room.

They knew Alex had been spending his time in only a handful of places since Arizona's accident – Arizona's room, the peds floor and the cafeteria to get his coffee fix. Meredith and Cristina did a drive by of Arizona's room and could only see Arizona sleeping in her bed. Next they headed to the overly colorful and cheery pediatrics floor. Cristina and Meredith walked up and down the hallways peeking into the rooms and found no evidence that Alex was there either. They only had one more place to look before they would have to resort to drastic measures of paging him to a fake emergency.

"He has to be here," Cristina said as they walked into the cafeteria.

Meredith's eyes were scanning back and forth across the large room as she searched for her target. "He's paying," Meredith pointed to Alex who was handing over a few bills to the cashier. "You go force him to eat here and not escape to Arizona's room while I go get some food. I missed lunch to track you down and now I'm starving. Don't you dare start questioning him without me."

Cristina nodded and waited patiently for her prey to get closer to her. He was keeping his head down so he didn't even see Cristina when she reached out and looped her arm through his.

"What the –?" Alex questioned when he felt someone touch him. He looked up and saw that it was Cristina that had pulled him to a stop. "What are you doing?"

"Announcing my presence!" Cristina stated the obvious. "You, me and Mer are going to eat lunch together. It's been so long since we've all hung out. Don't you think we should catch up?"

Alex groaned. It had only been a couple of hours since the ultrasound but it was obvious that the gossip had already spread. There was no other reason that Cristina would be demanding his presence for lunch. He didn't even bother fighting it. He knew that Cristina wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine," Alex huffed as he put his lunch down on a nearby table.

Cristina and Alex sat in silence as they waited for Meredith. Alex shoveled food into his mouth as quickly as he could while Cristina eyed him suspiciously. He knew that once Meredith showed up they would want him to talk so he wanted to eat as much as he could before his food went cold. Alex looked around the cafeteria as he ate and noticed that everyone was looking at him. Alex had no problem with people knowing about the recent developments in his personal life; it was the staring and talking behind his back that really pissed him off. He felt like a zoo animal on display. He was waiting for someone to ask him to do a trick with the way they kept pointing and talking.

"Oh good, you got him to stay," Meredith commented as she sat down with her friends.

Alex rolled his eyes and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Just get it out already. Say what you need to say."

"Is it true?" Meredith asked.

"Is what true?" Alex rebutted. He hadn't actually heard the whispers going around the hospital so he had no idea what people were saying about him.

"You and Arizona," Cristina clarified hoping to get some answers.

"What about me and Arizona?" Alex questioned. He wasn't going to make this easy for them. If they wanted the dirt they were going to work for it.

"That you two are together and that Arizona is having your baby," Meredith laid it all out, starting to get annoyed with Alex's avoidance of the issues.

"That would be true," Alex smirked as he popped a fry into his mouth. He was actually impressed that the gossip was still accurate and hadn't transformed into Arizona being abducted by aliens and then impregnated by them. The imaginations of the hospital staff were not to be underestimated but apparently the lesbian dating the intern who spread syphilis were already so out there that it couldn't be improved on.

"Okay, I'm just going to say it," Cristina waved her hands in the air. "How the hell did you and Arizona get together? How did you get the gay girl? Is your penis that great? I think I need to see it. Can I get a look?"

Alex choked on his fry when Cristina mentioned his penis. He took a swig of water to help the coughing that ensued. "No, you cannot see it! Arizona might be recovering from being hit by a freaking car but she'd probably still be able to kick your ass for that."

"Alex, just be straight with us," Meredith implored, wanting to know more about her friend's relationship.

"Look, I don't know how it happened. It kind of just did," Alex explained. He had never really thought too deeply about his relationship with Arizona. He always focused on living in the moment and not questioning it. He had grown up learning not to question a good thing and what he had with Arizona was a good thing. "We just grew closer and closer as friends and then we crossed the friendship line and we haven't really looked back."

"But she's gay. She likes chicks – not dicks!" Cristina continued to question just how exactly Arizona's sexuality changed. Cristina had lived with Callie while she and Arizona were together; she knew they had an active sex life. She didn't understand how Arizona was suddenly with a man.

Alex shrugged his shoulders, "You can't help who you fall in love with and I'm not the first man that Arizona has been with – I'm just the first one that she's been in a relationship with."

"And now you're going to be a father," Meredith said.

Alex smiled. He couldn't help but smile when he thought about his baby, "I am."

"It's like I don't even know you," Cristina shook her head at Alex. In one hour the Alex Karev that she thought she knew had become a completely different person to her.

"I'm the same guy I was before you found out. I told you I had a girlfriend I just didn't tell you who. But now you know. The only thing that's changed is that I'm going to have a kid. Meredith has a daughter now so it's not like I'm the first one to have a kid in this group."

Cristina narrowed her eyes but smiled, "God, I'm losing all of you to poop and spit up machines. Just remember that Auntie Cristina does not do bodily fluids."

Meredith patted Alex on the back, "Alex, you're so grown up now. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks," Alex said awkwardly. "Now can I finish my lunch without being interrogated?"

Meredith and Cristina let him eat but that didn't mean they were done with their questioning. They wanted more details about his relationship with Arizona. They wanted the whos, the whats, the hows and the whys.

Across the cafeteria another group of surgeons was also gossiping about the latest news. Mark, Callie, Teddy, Bailey and Owen had also met up in the cafeteria for a late lunch. Owen was the last one to join the table and he noticed that all eyes were on the table across the room with Cristina, Meredith and Alex.

"What is going on today?" Owen asked starting to get a bit paranoid. "Everyone is whispering around here and Meredith even kicked me out of my own office earlier. Is it about me? I don't hear any gossip anymore. Everyone shuts up as soon as I walk into a room."

"Oh it is definitely not about you," Mark reassured him.

"Okay…" Owen looked at everyone else at the table. No one was jumping to fill him in. He had gotten used to being left in the dark as Chief but he could usually count on one of his friends to tell him what was going on.

"Just typical gossiping," Bailey explained trying to stop the conversation before it got started. "People have nothing better to do than to talk about each other's lives around here."

"I gathered that," Owen looked around the cafeteria and noticed everyone was staring at the table with his wife. "Is it about Cristina?" Owen knew that there had been a lot of gossip about him and Cristina over the last few months as they went through a rough patch in their marriage that resulted in Cristina practically moving into the Shepherd house but they had been better in the last few weeks.

"No, it's about Karev. And Robbins," Mark started to fill him in before Bailey kicked him under the table. Owen looked at Mark expectantly like he wanted him to continue. Mark ignored Bailey's continued under the table assault and continued, "Apparently Alex and Arizona are together…sexually."

"Huh?" Owen was confused and looked to the others at the table for clarification. Arizona being in a relationship with a man was as likely as a UFO landing on the helipad on the hospital roof.

"Callie was a witness. She probably knows the most," Mark pointed to Callie across the table.

Callie glared at Mark. She really didn't want to get into the details of what she saw. She was still busy processing it herself. "But Teddy's her best friend so I bet Teddy knows more than me," she tried to deflect the attention from herself.

Teddy sighed. She really didn't want to be dragged into the gossip but she didn't want to let the gossip get too out of hand. "All I know is that yes, Alex and Arizona are together. They have been for quite some time. And yes it is Alex's baby."

"I just want to know – how did Karev bag Robbins?" Mark said crudely. "If you're going to go straight, why is Karev the guy you go to? I could think of much better options than him."

"Like you?" Callie asked rhetorically. "Alex isn't the first guy Arizona's been with," Callie informed Mark and the rest of the table. "She's had sex with men before. She told me that men didn't do it for her and she preferred women. So I guess Alex must do something for her."

"So they really were making out?" Mark asked. "One of the nurses said they were practically having sex."

"Ugh," Callie rolled her eyes. She hated even thinking about what she saw. No one wants to see their ex with their new love. Even though it had been years there was still a twinge of pain seeing Arizona so fully moved on with her life. Callie would have felt the same way if it was a woman that Arizona was making out with – there was just a little, well a lot, more shock because it was a man. "Yes, they kissed but it wasn't really making out or having sex."

"Was there tongue?" Mark inquired, wanting every detail possible.

Callie scrunched her nose and threw her napkin at Mark. She really didn't want to think about it even if the image was burned into her memory forever.

"I'll take that as a yes, Torres," Mark replied as he caught the napkin before it hit him in the face. Mark looked over his shoulder and stared at Alex as he talked with Meredith and Cristina, "I still don't get what she sees in him."

Bailey hated to see everyone gossiping about her friend and wanted to shut everyone up. They could talk about the new couple all they wanted but they weren't going to do it in front of her anymore. She had too much respect for Arizona and as frustrating as she often found Alex he was still one of her babies. "I don't know any details about them but I do know that Robbins has looked happier than ever these past few months and I'm pretty sure that is all Alex's doing. And after the last two weeks, it's obvious to a blind man how much he loves Arizona. And that's all that matters. It doesn't matter if she is gay, bi, red or blue. All that matters is that they're happy."

Bailey's speech did the job and they were able to move on from the gossip and talk about more important matters – like their own loves lives.

**…**

For once, Arizona was grateful to be stuck in a hospital bed. She noticed the stares every time a nurse came in to check on her. She would catch them looking when they were supposed to be just changing her IV bag. She really noticed the stares during evening rounds when she could see the residents snickering. They tried to cover their mouths with their charts but Arizona could still hear the whispers. After delivering her her dinner tray Arizona heard two nurses making a comment as they were leaving her room; Arizona took the opportunity to scold them about professional behavior in the workplace and minding their own business. She hoped that verbally lashing out at two nurses would get the rest to stop or at least teach them to wait until they were fully out of her room to start talking.

Alex wasn't so lucky. After his lunch with Cristina and Meredith and spending a few hour of the afternoon with Arizona, he had to spend the evening working which exposed him to the gossip hungry monsters that were ready to pounce on him. When he caught people staring at him, he would just stare back until they looked away. He wanted to lash out and tell everyone to fuck off and mind their own business but he knew Arizona would disapprove so he kept his mouth shut.

After early evening rounds, Alex made his way back to Arizona's hospital room. He was exhausted from the emotion of the day and just wanted to enjoy a relaxing night with his girlfriend.

"That bad, huh?" Arizona murmured when Alex walked in and immediately burrowed his head into her chest as he leaned onto her bed.

Alex nodded against her chest.

Arizona ran her fingers through Alex's hair, trying to soothe away his stresses. "What was so bad?'

Alex pulled out of Arizona's arms and sat back in the chair next to her bed. "I can handle the staring. It's the talking behind my back that gets me. Don't these people have anything better to do? And most of the things they're saying are lies."

Arizona reached out for Alex's hand. She wanted to keep physical contact with him, knowing it would help make him feel better. "Like what?" she asked. Arizona was very curious about what people were saying about her.

"According to most people, I'm just using you to get ahead in my career and neither one of us want the baby so we're going to take care of it and blame it on the accident. Or there's the one that you got drunk and had sex with a random guy and I'm just stepping up to be the dad to save you," Alex played with Arizona's fingers refusing to meet her gaze. "I just want to throttle them for saying those things about you. You don't deserve this."

"Alex, look at me," Arizona commanded. When his eyes finally met hers she continued, "I don't care what people are saying. You and I know the truth and that's all that matters. Soon enough there will be some new scandal and we'll be forgotten about. Okay?"

Alex nodded and let his head hang low, "I'm just so tired."

Arizona scooted over in her bed and made room for him to join her. "Of course you are. You've been taking care of me nonstop for two weeks and ignoring yourself. Now I know you won't go home and get some real sleep so you are going to climb in here and take a nap."

"The nurses," Alex argued. "They'll yell at me when they come in to check on you."

Arizona laughed and patted the free space on the bed. "They won't say a word. I told them off today when I heard them make a snide comment about us under their breath. They're afraid of me now. So come on. I've been up for a few hours now so I could use a nap too."

A nap with Arizona sounded like heaven so even with his reservations Alex joined her in bed. It was still fairly early in the night but Alex hoped they could get at least an hour of undisturbed sleep before the residents would do their final nightly checkup. They were able to sleep soundly for a couple of hours when Arizona's cell phone started ringing on the bedside table. Alex was jolted awake by the foreign sound. He wasn't used to the ringtone on Arizona's new cell phone. Her old cell phone had been destroyed during the accident so Alex had a new one ordered online for her and she hadn't customized her ringtones on it yet. Alex disentangled himself from Arizona and grabbed the phone off the bedside table for her.

"Shit," Alex muttered when he saw who was calling. Arizona was not going to enjoy this conversation.

"Who is it?" Arizona asked as she slowly woke up.

Alex turned the phone so that Arizona could see the caller id, "Your parents."

"Shit," Arizona agreed. She was going to have to tell them about the accident. She knew they were going to be livid when they found out about how critical she was and they weren't told. Sure they were on a cruise across the world but there are ways to get in touch with the ship in an emergency. The phone stopped ringing as Arizona stared at it in her hand. "They're going to kill me. I survived being hit by a car but they're going to kill me."

"They won't kill you."

"They will," Arizona nodded her head firmly. "Then they'll kill you because you didn't get in touch with them either."

Alex took the phone from Arizona and hit a few buttons so that Arizona could call them back. "They won't kill you. Not when they find out they're going to be grandparents."

"Oh there is no way in hell I'm telling that that now." Arizona gestured to her stomach, "This is just proof that we're having sex. My dad will really kill you after hearing about this."

Alex gulped. He had almost forgotten the protective streak of The Colonel. Even at thirty-five Arizona was still his baby and he while he would love the product of them having sex, he would not love knowing about the act that produced the baby. He shoved those thoughts aside and put the phone in Arizona's hand. It was time for them to know what had been going on in their daughter's life. "Call them back."

Alex moved off the bed to give Arizona her space. He watched as she stared at the phone for a minute before pressing the call button. He couldn't hear the other side of the conversation but he could tell that Arizona was right; her parents were livid that they had no idea Arizona was so critically hurt. They had already lost one child and finding out that they almost lost another was heartbreaking – even if she was still alive and breathing. Arizona could have easily died without them getting one last chance to sit by her bedside and hold her hand. Alex listened as Arizona turned into someone almost unrecognizable to him. She was no longer the strong, confident woman that he fell in love with – instead she was a little girl being lectured by her father. After a series of 'yes sirs' and 'no ma'ams' Arizona told her parents that she loved them and hung up the phone.

"So?" Alex asked as Arizona put the phone back on the table.

"They're buying plane tickets as we speak. They'll be here by the weekend. They'd be here sooner but since I'm alive and all they're going to keep a few appointments they have this week before flying out," Arizona sounded defeated.

"That's good, right? Derek said you should be able to go home on Friday so that's good timing. They can help at home while I'm at work."

"They're really upset with me, Alex," Arizona tried to hide her tears by covering her face with her hand but Alex saw right through her. Her residual authority issues were bubbling to the surface. When Alex reached out to brush her tears away she pulled further away from him. "And you. Be prepared for them to lay into you as well. My dad already had a few choice words to say about you. This is not going to be a good trip."

Alex refused to let Arizona pull away from him again so he crawled back into bed and held her tight against him. "We'll get through this. Together. They're mad now but they'll calm down. Plus once they see how pitiful you look with all of your injuries they can't be mad at you anymore."

"Ha," Arizona laughed out loud. "That just means they'll transfer their anger onto you."

"I can take it. Your dad doesn't scare me…much."

"I'll remind you of that when he is putting the fear of God in you with just one look," Arizona yawned. She was getting tired again. She hated not being able to stay awake for long. She knew it wasn't her fault. Her body was healing and needed rest to be able to heal properly but she still wanted to be awake for longer than a couple of hours at a time.

Sensing that Arizona was tired Alex moved to get off of her bed so that she could get comfortable and hopefully fall asleep until morning. Alex had one leg off the bed when Arizona tugged on his shirt.

"No," Arizona whined. "I'll sleep so much better if you stay right here."

"But the nurses? They will definitely say something if I spend all night in your bed," Alex protested but at the same time moved his leg back onto the bed and made himself comfortable.

"I told you they're afraid of me. Now wrap your arms around me. I'm stuck on my back so you have to be the cuddler tonight," Arizona ordered and Alex did as he was told.

Alex knew better to argue with Arizona. He knew he wouldn't refuse her. Not when she was stuck in a hospital bed. Truth was that Alex needed a good night of sleep himself and he knew that being able to hold Arizona while he slept would give him the best night of sleep he had had since the accident. Arizona was right and the nurses ignored Alex's presence the whole night. It wasn't until Bailey came to do morning rounds that he was kicked out – just in time to get to work for the day.

**…**

Arizona was thankful that she was going home. She'd been in the hospital for almost three weeks. She only really remembered the last one and a half weeks but that was more than enough for her. She was sick of being woken up every few hours by nurses. She was tired of bland hospital food. She missed her own home and her own bed. However, she was not looking forward to the fact that she was still banned from even attempting to walk and putting any weight on her left leg. She was going to be wheelchair bound until she started physical therapy. Arizona was actually somewhat grateful that her parents were flying in the next day. As much as she hated it, she was going to need help until she was able to put weight on her leg and Alex couldn't be there for her all day every day.

Everyone in the hospital knew that Arizona was being discharged that day. The door to her room was open to a steady stream of well wishers sending their best for a speedy recovery. Alex was working so she had to wait until he was off to go home, giving everyone plenty of time to come say goodbye. The most important people coming to see her that day were her doctors that needed to give the final sign off on her being allowed to go home.

The first one to visit was Derek. After a quick neuro exam and one final MRI, Arizona was finally cleared by the brain surgeon. She would still have another month of being monitored by weekly MRIs to ensure that no more aneurysms had formed but she was healed well enough to go home.

Arizona was waiting patiently for her next visit when she smelled a whiff of pizza come from the hallway. She could feel her mouth watering just from the smell. Alex tried to get her as much non-hospital food as possible but she still had to suffer through the bland cafeteria food more often than she liked due to Alex's conflicting work schedule.

Arizona was picturing a slice of pizza with cheese dripping off the sides when the door opened and Callie walked in with a box that looked suspiciously like a pizza box. If Callie was playing tricks on her she was going to be a dead woman.

"If you are teasing me, I will cut you," Arizona warned as Callie laughed at her.

Callie put the pizza down on the table next to Arizona, "I figured I should bring you lunch since I'm going to be putting you through some pain today."

Arizona raised her eyebrows, "So this is a bribe to get me to be a good patient?"

"Think of it as a going away gift from your favorite ortho surgeon."

Arizona was able to finagle a slice out of the box and took a bite. "Mmm," she moaned. "I don't care what it is. It is amazing. Thank you."

Callie had to bite her lip when she heard Arizona moan as she took a bite. It had been a long time since she had heard a noise like that come from Arizona's mouth. "You're welcome."

"Aren't you going to eat too?" Arizona gestured to the medium sized pizza. "I might be pregnant but I'm pretty sure I can't eat a whole pizza by myself." Arizona inwardly cringed when she mentioned her pregnancy. She and Callie hadn't exactly discussed her change in sexuality or her impending motherhood since the news became public. Arizona had skillfully managed to avoid being alone with Callie up until that moment. She didn't want to make Callie feel bad. She didn't want to shove her relationship with Alex or her pregnancy in Callie's face. She knew that Callie would likely always be sensitive about babies after losing her own. The last thing she wanted to do was to remind her of everything that she didn't have.

Callie just smiled and picked up a slice from the box. "You're right. That is good," she said after taking a bite.

"So much better than hospital food," Arizona commented. "I will not miss the food."

"I'm sure," Callie said between bites. "I remember it being really bad. I'm pretty sure a dog would turn its' nose up at most of what we serve patients."

"So anything good going on out there?" Arizona nodded to the door to her hospital room as she tried to make conversation with Callie.

"It's been pretty boring lately. Just a few rumors about these two peds surgeons that have been hooking up behind everyone's backs," Callie tried to add some levity to the situation of being alone in a room with her ex-girlfriend.

"Oh really?" Arizona played along with Callie's game. Callie was the one that brought it up so she would go along with it.

"Yeah, apparently they've been hot and heavy for quite awhile."

"Interesting. Do I know these two surgeons?"

"Oh, I think you do."

"Huh," Arizona said as she finished her slice of pizza. "You'd think someone would have picked up on this relationship if they've been at it for awhile."

"Apparently they're very good at lying."

Arizona felt like she was being confused and defended herself, "It's not lying. It's just not telling the whole truth. You guys didn't ask the right questions."

"Right. Because we would have known to ask you about your boyfriend when you've never dated a man in your life," Callie's tone signaled an end to their teasing and a shift to a more serious conversation.

"I'm just saying. We never once lied."

Callie threw her crust into the nearby trash can. She had one thing that had been on her mind since she found out about Alex and Arizona and she knew that this might be the only chance she had to get an answer for awhile since Arizona was going home that day. "I just have one question to ask. Was it something I did? To make you go to a man? Did I hurt you that badly that you gave up on women all together?"

"No," Arizona said vehemently as she reached out to grab Callie's hand. "This had nothing to do with you."

"Then what?"

"We kissed," Arizona explained. "We had this one kiss over a year ago. We were drunk and I was upset and crying and I kissed him. And then we vowed to never speak of it. But something changed after that. I couldn't get Alex out of my head. Isn't that how you realized you liked girls? After Erica kissed you to prove a point to Mark?"

"Yeah," Callie nodded.

"I guess it was kind of the same as that. I spent months trying to forget that one kiss. I started kissing all kinds of women just to remind myself of who I was but I was always thinking of Alex."

"I get it," Callie squeezed Arizona's hand. Arizona had put it in terms that Callie understood. She understood how one kiss could make a person question their entire life after all that is what Erica did for her. "I might not get that it is Alex Karev who once spread syphilis around the hospital but I get it."

Arizona scrunched her nose, "Yeah. I don't need to think about that. I know Alex has a past but ewww."

Callie laughed and her laughter broke the tension in the room. "How about I check you out so you can go home? But just remember that I brought you pizza when you're cursing me out because of the pain."

Arizona happily let Callie perform her exam and only swore three times during the exam. Callie was happy with the way Arizona's bones were healing and happily signed off on her discharge.

With Derek and Callie's signatures, she was just waiting for a general surgeon to sign off on her internal injuries and then she was good to go home. The afternoon quickly turned to early evening and she was still waiting for Bailey or anyone to come sign off on her chart. She would have been upset that she was still waiting for the final signature but since Alex was still working she would have been stuck at the hospital anyway.

Arizona was waiting as patiently as she could when she heard a whistle come from the doorway.

"Looking good, Robbins," Alex said as he looked Arizona up and down. For the first time in three weeks she wasn't in a hospital gown and she looked amazing. "You make that hospital gown sexy but I almost forgot how good you look in real clothes."

"Alex," Arizona groaned. She thought she looked anything but sexy. She had traded in the hospital gown for a pair of athletic pants and a long sleeve t-shirt. Her left leg was still fairly swollen and in a full leg brace which made putting on real clothes impossible.

"I am so ready to get you home," Alex whispered as he leaned forward to kiss Arizona's pouting lips. "You ready?"

"Still waiting on general to discharge me."

"I'll go page Hunt. He'll take care of you."

Just as Alex pulled out his pager, Arizona's door opened and Owen and an unknown man entered the room.

"Looks like we got here just in time. I think our patient was going to make a run for it," Owen noticed the wheel chair waiting in the corner and Arizona's packed bags sitting on the floor next to it.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a run, Chief," Arizona laughed, making fun of her own injuries.

"Right. Okay so Dr. Robbins, I want you to meet Dr. Jason Painter. He will be your physical therapist," Owen gestured to the tall, dark and handsome man standing next to him. "He is going to be in charge of getting you back on your feet."

Jason held out his hand toward Arizona, "Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Robbins."

"Arizona," she corrected. There was no need for formalities when he was going to see her at her worst through physical therapy. "Nice to meet you too, Dr. Painter."

"Jason," he smiled.

Arizona could see Alex awkwardly standing next to her. She could tell he was a little jealousy of the handsome man that was currently shaking hands with her even if he knew that she only had eyes for him. "And this is my boyfriend, Dr. Alex Karev."

Alex reached his hand out to shake the other man's, "Alex."

Jason smiled and shook his hand before turning back to Arizona. "Okay, Arizona. I've met with all of your doctors and they've assured me that you are ready to go home. So I want to leave you with some at-home care instructions. We're going to have our first session next Monday. Until we meet there is to be absolutely no weight put on your left leg. You're on bed rest until we start PT. Whether that is in bed or on the couch I don't care as long as you aren't walking around. When you do get up to bathe or go to the bathroom you ask for help."

Jason didn't miss the eye roll and groan from his patient. He could tell that she was going to be a challenge. He knew her reputation as a hard charger and could tell that it was going to be difficult to keep her from pushing herself too far and too fast.

"Part of your release from the hospital is that someone is going to be with you at all times, right?" Jason looked to Alex who was nodding his head up and down.

"Oh yes," Arizona said sarcastically as she glanced at Alex. "I have a prison warden and my parents are on their way as well."

"Great. Then I'll see you next Monday to get started," Jason smiled as he left the room.

Owen opened Arizona's chart and signed a few papers before handing them over to Arizona for her signature. "You take as much time as you need to heal. Your job will be here when you're ready."

"I'll be back in a couple of weeks, Chief," Arizona spoke as she signed, purposefully avoiding Alex's stern gaze.

"Arizona," Alex started to lecture. They had been arguing all week about Arizona's plans to return to work as soon as possible. He wanted her to take her recovery slowly and not to push herself. If she pushed herself too hard she could hurt herself even more.

"Stop, Alex," Arizona growled. She loved Alex but she didn't like being told what she could and couldn't do. "I didn't say I would be doing surgery. I can sit in a chair and do paperwork at work just as easy as sitting on the couch at home."

"We'll see how PT goes, Arizona. But we will be more than happy to have you back in any capacity as soon as Dr. Painter says it is okay," Owen placated the woman.

"Thank you, Owen."

"I assume everyone has gone over their instructions for you?" Owen questioned. He read her chart and saw that Callie and Derek had all signed off that they had given her their at-home care instructions for her.

"Yep," Arizona nodded.

"Good," Owen leaned down and gave Arizona an awkward hug and pat on the back. "We'll see you soon. And Karev, you take good care of her."

Alex mumbled a "yes sir" as Owen took his leave from the room. Once Owen was gone, Alex looked at the grinning blonde on the hospital bed. If she could bounce without being in pain she would have been bouncing up and down on the bed. "Ready?"

Arizona responded by holding her arms out so that Alex could lift her out of bed. Once she was safely in the wheelchair, he threw their bags over his shoulder and wheeled her toward the entrance where his Jeep was waiting. It had been a very long three weeks at the hospital. For the first half of it, Alex wasn't sure that he was ever going to get to bring Arizona home again. They both knew that Arizona had a very long road of recovery ahead of her but the fact that there was even a recovery to be had was a miracle. Alex dodged the rain drops as he picked Arizona up and put her in his car. It was a typical dreary Seattle evening but Alex couldn't keep the smile off of his face – he was finally bringing his girlfriend home.

**…**


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Thanks for the continued support. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Alex and Arizona had a very peaceful first night at home. They were both able to get more sleep in one night than they had in a week. It was nice to be able to sleep and not be woken up throughout the night by nurses, doctors and beeping machines. A good night's rest was exactly what they needed. Alex needed to be on top of his game for when the Robbins family arrived and getting more than four hours of sleep a night was a great start.

In the morning Alex had Arizona settled on the couch for the day after she refused to stay in bed. He created a fort of pillows and blankets on the couch to help keep her comfortable. She also had the remotes for every possible source of entertainment in the living room – the sound system, the television, and the video game systems. Along with her iPad, laptop and even some case files, Alex was sure that they would be able to keep Arizona busy until at least lunchtime. Or at least he hoped.

"Aleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeex," Arizona called from the couch. This was only the sixth time she had called for him that morning.

Alex ran into the living room looking frazzled with yellow rubber gloves on his hands, "What? What can I get for you?"

Arizona giggled when he walked into the living room. One of the most entertaining things she had found to do that morning was to randomly shout Alex's name and watch him come running. He would drop everything that he was doing and come to make sure that she was okay. It was endearing and a side of Alex Karev that she knew she would be the only one to ever see. If only his coworkers could see his nurturing and caring side they wouldn't think that he was the asshole that they claimed he was.

"Arizona, one of these times you're actually going to need something and I'm not going to come running because you're the 'girl who cried wolf.' So don't blame me if you pee your pants because it'll be all your fault."

"But I do need something," Arizona protested. "I need you. I'm bored."

Alex grumbled under his breath as he sat on the coffee table across from Arizona, "I'm busy, babe. Your parents are going to be here in a few hours and this place is still a mess."

"They'll understand," Arizona reached out for his hand but he refused to let her take it. "We've had a lot going on these past few weeks."

"Ha," Alex laughed. "Right. Your dad is a perfectionist. Your bedroom had to be inspection ready your whole life. Even in college he expected your dorm to be perfect when he'd randomly visit. And this house is not inspection ready."

"But I need you," Arizona whined and pouted on the couch. "How can you say no to your crippled, not to mention pregnant, girlfriend?"

"Arizona," Alex sighed as he stripped off his dishwashing gloves and sat next to her on the couch. The pouting lower lip combined with her still healing facial abrasions had done him in and he had to cave in. "You can't play that card for the next eight months or I'm never going to get anything done."

Arizona grinned as she got what she wanted – some quality snuggle time on the couch. "I won't play it _all_ the time, promise." Arizona batted her eyelashes at the obviously smitten man. "Now how about you entertain me," Arizona suggested as she leaned into Alex's body and let her mouth graze his neck.

"Whoa!" Alex protested and pulled away from Arizona's embrace. "That… that can't happen." He was horny and he knew Arizona was too but they couldn't do anything to fix that due to her injuries. They couldn't do anything to fix that for a very long time. He would rather not put himself in a situation that would only end with him being in pain.

Arizona wasn't going to give up and she pulled Alex back into her body. "My lips aren't broken. Kissing won't hurt me," she told him as she brought his lips to hers. Ever since the accident the most they had done physically were a few long deep kisses but most of the time all she got from Alex were pecks and she needed more. She needed to feel as close as possible to him – or at least as close as she could given her injuries.

"Only kissing," Alex captured her lips as he gently pushed and maneuvered Arizona so that she was lying down on her back.

After a few minutes of making out like teenagers, Alex dared to slip his hands under her t-shirt. He knew he was playing with fire but he couldn't help it. Alex found Arizona's boobs to be magnets for his hands. Many years ago Alex told Arizona that she had good boobs but he never imagined that he would ever get to know them as intimately as he did. He gradually worked his hands upward until he was met with the swell of her breasts. He stopped just before touching them, intent not to break his own rule about only kissing. Groping was more than just kissing and he couldn't cross that line.

Arizona sighed when she felt her boyfriend reach under her shirt. She had longed for his touch ever since she had woken up from her coma. Part of her had been scared that Alex was repulsed by her body after the accident. She had scars all over her body from her surgeries. Every day her fears were validated when Alex would help Arizona bathe and she noticed that his eyes never looked further south than her neck. Just by his touching the bare skin on her stomach set her entire body on fire until he suddenly stopped.

"Alex," Arizona murmured against his lips. "Touch me."

Alex ignored her request and instead focused on kissing her. He hoped to distract her with the skill of his tongue.

"Touch me," Arizona implored again when they broke for air.

Alex again ignored her and went back to work, massaging her tongue with his until he felt her tears on his face. Alex stopped what he was doing and rested his forehead against hers. Arizona refused to open her eyes and look at him.

"What's wrong?' he asked. He had no idea where the tears had come from. Crying women were his downfall. He couldn't stand to see a woman in tears especially _his_ woman. He needed to know how to fix the tears.

Arizona shook her head against his and kept her eyes closed shut as tears crept out from the corners of her eyes.

"Please tell me what's wrong. I can't stand to see you cry."

"You think I'm ugly– with all of my scars," she breathed out quickly, embarrassed by her fears.

"You're the most beautiful person in the world. How could you honestly believe that I think that you're ugly?" Alex gently grabbed Arizona's face in his hands. He hoped that his touch would get her to finally look at him.

"You won't touch me," Arizona finally opened her eyes. "You don't look at me when you help me bathe.

"Oh I look at you when I have you naked," Alex smirked as he massaged her cheeks with his thumbs. "You just aren't paying enough attention." Alex snaked a hand back up Arizona's shirt and rested his hand over her breast, "And I haven't touched you because I don't know if I would be able to stop. And I have to stop," Alex leaned in to kiss her again stopping right before their lips met, "But if you want me to touch you – I will."

Arizona moaned when Alex finally grabbed her breasts. It wasn't as much that it felt good as it was about the fact that knowing that he still found her sexually attractive. Alex spent the next half hour letting her know just how attractive he found her even if they couldn't go further than second base.

"I can't wait until we can have sex again," Alex groaned as their make out session on the couch came to an end. His body was so worked up from making out and he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Arizona couldn't help but laugh, "Me too." They were both in the same sexually frustrated boat. Arizona had offered to help take care of Alex's needs but Alex refused; if she couldn't enjoy any pleasure than neither would he.

The distraction on the couch put Alex behind schedule but if it made Arizona happy it was worth it. Once he was satisfied that Arizona wasn't going to yell for him for at least another half hour, Alex went back to work on making sure the house was perfect for the Robbins family. He had met them several times before but this was the first time as their daughter's boyfriend and the guy that knocked her up. He knew that everything was going to be under scrutiny from the cleanliness of the kitchen to his haircut and he wasn't going to give them any reason to dislike him if he could help it.

**…**

Alex waited nervously at Seattle – Tacoma International Airport. The arrivals board had just changed to announce that Arizona's parents' flight had just landed. They would be walking through the gate in just a few minutes. Alex ran his hand through his hair and checked to make sure his jacket was free of lint. He hated that Arizona wasn't with him to pick up her parents but it was difficult to get her in and out of a car without major pain on Arizona's part so they decided it would be best if she stayed at home. Arizona assured him that they would still love him just as much as they did before but Alex was still nervous. He needed for them to like him. He intended on spending the rest of his life with their daughter and if they didn't approve of him then that could make his future much more difficult. They were already going to be upset with him for not getting in touch with them about the accident so everything that he could control had to be perfect.

Alex's hands went sweaty as soon as he saw them walking out of the arrivals area. Daniel did not look happy and Barbara looked like she hadn't slept since she heard about Arizona's accident.

"Barbara, Daniel," Alex greeted them as they walked toward him. "It's good to see you guys."

Barbara instantly wrapped her arms around him in a hug, "Hi, Alex."

When Barbara finally let go of Alex, he reached out to shake Daniel's hand only to be left hanging.

Daniel crossed his hands over his chest, "How is she doing?" Daniel wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. He still saw Alex as the enemy. Not only was Alex sleeping with his only daughter but he also kept the knowledge of her accident from him.

"Going crazy being stuck on bed rest," Alex answered. When he noticed that his attempt at levity did not crack a smile from Daniel he added, "But she's doing really well with her recovery."

The long wait for luggage and drive back to the house was filled with lots of questions from Arizona's parents. Alex did his best to answer them honestly. They were the same questions that Arizona had already answered before but they needed to hear the answers again. They needed to be reassured that their daughter was going to be okay. Alex knew that they wouldn't really feel like Arizona was okay until they saw her in person. The only thing that he didn't tell her parents about was the baby. Arizona wanted to wait to tell them. She wanted to wait until they weren't as angry with her. It was happy news. Not news to be shared when they were yelling at her.

As soon as Alex's Jeep came to a stop in the garage, Barbara ran out of the car and into the house. She needed to see her baby. Alex and Daniel followed, carrying the luggage. By the time they made it into the house, Barbara was hugging Arizona tightly on the couch and they were both in tears.

"Mom, I promise I'm fine," Alex could hear Arizona reassuring her mother that she was okay as he walked past the living room and up the stairs to put their bags in the guest room.

When Alex was back downstairs it was the same scene with her father. Alex wanted to give them some time alone so he set about making dinner for everyone. When they first moved in together Arizona was pleasantly surprised to find out that Alex was very good in the kitchen. He attributed it to the fact that in his youth it was his responsibility to make sure that his siblings were fed. If he didn't cook for them, they didn't eat. And they didn't always have much to work with in terms of supplies so he had to get creative. It was his most creative meals that always had Arizona skeptical but they usually ended up being the best.

Alex had just pulled the salmon out of the pan when he heard his pager go off. While he wasn't happy about being paged in, he was grateful that Arizona's parents were around to help while he was gone.

Alex walked into the living room holding up his pager, "I gotta go to the hospital."

"Really?" Arizona questioned. "I thought you were off until Monday."

"I'm on call all weekend. Hopefully I won't be long," Alex frowned when he saw the disappointment in Arizona's eyes. "But dinner is ready. So I hope you all enjoy it."

Alex stood around awkwardly as he debated if he should kiss Arizona goodbye or not. Normally he didn't care about public displays of affection in front of parents but Arizona's father wasn't exactly thrilled with him in light of the recent events. Also, they'd never seen her be affectionate with a man and he wasn't sure how they'd react to that. As if they could sense his uneasiness, Barbara and Daniel got up and went to the kitchen to get dinner leaving him alone with Arizona on the couch.

"Don't leave me alone with them," Arizona whispered after she was sure her parents were out of the room. She knew that as soon as he left they would really lay into her about not informing them about the accident. The Robbins were private people and even though Alex was Arizona's live-in boyfriend, Arizona knew that her parents were holding back on their real emotions until they had her alone.

Alex leaned down to kiss Arizona goodbye. He wished he could stay but he couldn't ignore a page. "I'll be back soon hopefully. Page me if you need anything."

Alex made his way back to the kitchen where Barbara was filling a plate for Arizona, "Is there anything we need to do while you're gone, dear?"

Alex rattled off a list of helpful information, "My pager and cell phone numbers are on the fridge. If you need anything just give me a call. The keys to Arizona's car are in the bowl by the entryway. Her car has GPS that will point you wherever you need to go if you need anything. Arizona knows what she isn't allowed to do but you know she's going to try to push the limits. Basically just don't let her get off the couch. If she needs to go to the bathroom, she can hobble pretty well on her own with her crutches if she has help getting off the couch. She'll probably sleep on the couch since she's tired of being in a bed after the hospital. But yeah, hopefully I won't be too long."

"We'll be fine," Daniel huffed. He didn't like being told how to take care of his own daughter. In his eyes Alex was trying to replace him and he was not a fan of that. Daniel was used to being the only man in his daughter's life and the idea that he had to now share that spot with Alex aggravated him. She was his little girl. She was his responsibility to take care of; Daniel didn't like admitting that Alex was taking over his job in his daughter's life.

The Robbins family spent the rest of the night catching up. Arizona was right and as soon as the dinner plates were cleared away her parents let her know just how disappointed they were in her for keeping such major news from them. Disappointment was worse than anger in the Robbins household. Arizona spent her whole life trying to make her parents proud so hearing her father say he was disappointed in her made her heart hurt. After a long lecture from Daniel and promises to inform him of any and all future injuries including stubbed toes, he finally let go of his anger toward Arizona about the accident. After a few hours with her parents Arizona was noticeably tired. She didn't want to make her dad carry her upstairs so she settled on the couch while her parents went upstairs to the guest room.

It was early morning by the time Alex got home from the hospital. The emergency at the hospital was bigger than he originally thought it was going to be and he didn't make it home as quickly as he would have liked. Alex was caught off guard when he walked into the kitchen and Daniel was already up for the day.

"Good morning," Daniel greeted as he sipped on his coffee.

"Good morning," Alex replied. "You're up early," he noticed, trying to make conversation with his girlfriend's father.

Daniel shrugged, "Time change. My body's internal clock says it is already eight o'clock."

Alex had forgotten about the three hour time difference, "Right."

"Care to join me for a cup?"

Alex really wanted to go take a nap but he could tell that it wasn't really a question with The Colonel. He wasn't being asked to have a cup of coffee with him, he was being told. Alex pulled another mug out of the cabinet and filled it to the brim.

"I want to talk to you about my daughter," Daniel started speaking before Alex had even taken his first sip of coffee.

"Yes, sir," Alex answered respectfully. He realized that he was about to get the talk from his girlfriend's father and he didn't want to give him any more reasons to dislike him.

"Arizona's the baby of the family. She's always been a daddy's girl. Which is why Barb and I were so upset to find out that our baby girl had nearly died and, yes we were in the middle of the Mediterranean, but we still should have been told." Daniel looked directly into Alex's eyes, "You should have found a way to tell us even if it meant flying out to tell us yourself. When you have your own children maybe you'll understand this."

Alex nodded. He'd only known he was going to be a father for less than a month but he still knew he would do anything in the world to protect his baby. "Yes sir, it was a mistake. A huge mistake. I should have found a way to let you guys know. I'm sorry for that."

"Let's not let that happen again," Daniel said. He had planned on really laying into Alex about his failure but he realized that would solve nothing. Alex knew that he made a mistake and apologized for it. Daniel knew that he needed to let it go. Making a big deal of it would only upset Arizona and he knew she needed to be relaxing and not worrying about her parents getting along with her boyfriend.

"It won't. I promise."

"Good because my daughter seems to care for you a lot and I wouldn't have to hurt you," Daniel smiled when Alex choked on his coffee as he heard the subtle threat. "Now I'm sure you could use some sleep after working all night. We'll keep Arizona suitably entertained for awhile."

"Good luck with that," Alex laughed. He knew how hard it was to entertain her and he knew that she would be just as big of a pain in the ass for her parents as she was for him.

Alex stopped by the couch on his way upstairs. Arizona was still sleeping peacefully. He didn't want to disturb her so he left her with a kiss on the forehead before going to upstairs to their bed. When Alex woke up a few hours later he could hear Arizona playfully arguing with her father as they played a game on the Nintendo. It sounded like the Robbins' family visit might not be so awful after all.

**…**

Alex was playing with the collar on his sweater. He felt like it was suffocating him. He rolled his neck in hopes that would make him feel better. It did. For a second. Then his arms started to itch under the heavy wool. After rubbing his arms up and down in an attempt to relieve the itching, he finally gave up and pulled the sweater over his head and threw it on the ground.

"What is his deal?" Cristina asked Callie and Meredith who were sitting in the lounge watching Alex freak out.

Meredith shook her head in disbelief as Alex continued to have a fight with his clothing, this time unbuttoning the collar on the shirt he had underneath the sweater. "Hey! What'd that sweater ever do to you?'

"Nothing," Alex harrumphed and picked it up off the floor and put it back on. It wasn't the sweater's fault that he was nervous.

"So what's with the sweater and button-up? Is it formal night at the Karev house?" Cristina asked curiously. The only sweater she'd ever seen him wear had a hood and a kangaroo pocket in the front. He was looking way too dressed up for his normal self.

"Dinner out with Arizona's parents," Alex explained.

"She's supposed to be on bed rest," Callie reminded him. Arizona might have been discharged from the hospital but she was still her patient and Callie didn't want to have to operate on her ever again.

"I tried that argument but she even agreed to use the wheelchair, which she hates, so she must really want to have this dinner."

"I'd want a jailbreak too if I was being cooped up for so long," Meredith added.

Alex's cell phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it. "Hey, what's up?"

The girls saw no reason not to eavesdrop on his conversation. If he wanted to keep it private then he would need to leave the room.

The girls only got one side of the conversation but they could tell he was talking to Arizona.

"Yes…okay…tonight?...do we have to?...fine…yes, I'm leaving now…love you too," Alex ended the call and pulled at the collar of his sweater again. He was feeling claustrophobic all over again.

"Don't take whatever it is out on that sweater," Meredith chided him.

Alex dropped his hand and huffed. "Fine. I've got to go. Later."

The women chorused their goodbyes.

"Dude, he is so whipped," Cristina acknowledged as soon as the door to the lounge closed.

"You guys haven't spent time with the Robbins. He has every reason to be terrified of them. Her dad is a very intimidating man," Callie shivered after thinking about the first time she met Arizona's father. Daniel interrogated her for over an hour about every thing she had done in her life from the time she graduated high school until the present. He never seemed happy with any answers. He wanted only the best for his daughter and he made that clear.

"It's still weird right? Alex and Arizona together? And having a baby?" Meredith asked her friends. "I can't get over it. Alex actually seems happy. This has to be really weird right, Callie?"

"So weird," Callie agreed. "I don't know that I'll believe it until I have to see it every day when Arizona comes back to work."

**…**

Alex took his time driving to the house to pick everyone up for dinner. Arizona wanted to tell her parents about the baby at dinner that night. They had been in town for a few days and everything was going well so she figured it was time to spill the beans or else that would be another thing for them to be mad at her for. Alex was very nervous about how they were going to take the news. He knew that Barbara would probably be shocked but thrilled. Daniel was a different story. He was hard to read. Alex knew how protective he was of his daughter and knowing that Alex had gotten his daughter pregnant probably wasn't going to go over well. Everyone had been getting along swimmingly so far and Alex feared that would all blow up once they learned about the baby.

Once he got home and everyone was loaded into the car, they headed out to their favorite steakhouse for dinner. Alex wanted to do everything possible to put Daniel in a good mood and knowing that he was a steak and potatoes guy, he hoped that would help. Alex should have known that Arizona would renig on her promises to use her wheelchair. She started bargaining to use her crutches as soon as they got in the car. They argued most of the way to the restaurant with Arizona eventually getting her way even with all three of the other occupants in the car insisting that she use the wheelchair. Apparently no one was immune to her use of blue eyes and dimples even the people that gave them to her.

Throughout dinner Alex could sense Arizona's nerves as well. She picked at her food which was unusual for her at that restaurant. She blamed it on the medicines she was still taking but Alex knew that it was because of the nervous energy in her stomach. He really knew she was nervous when the check came and she still hadn't broached the topic.

"I thought we were telling them," Alex whispered as he helped Arizona into the front seat of the car.

"We will once we get home. I don't think a public place was such a great idea," Arizona whispered back.

Alex sighed and nodded. He would do whatever Arizona wanted but he was hoping to get the news out in a public place. Daniel wouldn't dare do anything to hurt him in public as there would be too many witnesses.

When they got back to the house, Barbara tried to insist that Arizona go straight to bed after such an outing but Arizona refused instead opting to settle on the couch again. Once everyone was sitting down, Arizona squeezed Alex's hand. It was time to spill the beans.

"Okay, so Mom and Dad, there's just one last thing about the accident that I might have not told you about yet," Arizona started to tell her parents before her father cut her off.

"What do you mean you haven't told us everything? You promised, Arizona," Daniel scolded her like she was a child. "Alex, you promised too."

"This isn't anything bad, Dad. I just wanted to give you guys some time to calm down after everything before I told you guys this." Arizona paused and looked at Alex who gave her a reassuring head nod. She summoned her courage to tell them. "It turns out that I'm pregnant. You're going to be grandparents in like seven months." Arizona noticed the hitch in her parents' breathing. She continued, hoping that they would realize how amazing this really was. "And it's a miracle really that the baby's okay after the accident. So this is good news. Really good news."

Alex and Arizona looked at the elder Robbins' and waited for a response. It took several seconds but it finally came.

"You're what?" Daniel shouted.

"And there it is," Arizona whispered under her breath before speaking louder. "Having a baby, Dad. Your grandchild," she added hoping that would help him to calm down a little. She knew her father's reaction would probably not be the happiest. He hated his little girl growing up. He hated it when she got her drivers license, graduated high school, and every other life milestone.

Arizona looked from her father to her mother. Barbara was sitting on the couch with her hands covering her mouth. She was clearly in shock. Arizona thought she could see tears in her eyes but she wasn't sure.

"Mom, can you say something?" Arizona prodded her mother to speak.

Barbara lowered her hands from her mouth, "I'm just really surprised, sweetie."

Arizona laughed at her mother's comment. The pregnancy being a surprise was an understatement. "You told me you wanted grandchildren at Christmas so I'm just giving you what you asked for."

Barbara just laughed and suddenly launched herself off of the couch and into her daughter's arms for a hug. Alex just sat next to Arizona awkwardly as the two embraced. He didn't know what he was supposed to do or say in this situation. Surprisingly, even with the number of girls he had slept with, this was the first girl he had gotten pregnant and had to do the whole tell the family talk.

"And I'm to assume that Alex is the father?" Daniel asked as he watched his wife and daughter hug.

"Daaaaaad," Arizona groaned and glared at him over her mother's shoulder as her mom continued to have her in a death grip. Her father always said what was on his mind no matter how inappropriate it was.

"Yes," Alex spoke over Arizona. He knew he needed to remain strong and confident in front of Daniel even if he was nervous about his reaction.

Barbara immediately separated herself from Arizona and pulled Alex in for a hug as well. "This is great news. Congratulations to you both."

Once Barbara let go of Alex she went right back to her daughter and started bombarding her with questions about the due date, ultrasound pictures, nursery colors and anything else baby related that came to her mind.

Daniel knew that once Barbara started talking baby things there would be no other discussion happening in the living room. So he got up went to the kitchen and grabbed two beers.

"Alex, care to join me for a drink outside?" Daniel asked as he handed him a bottle.

Just like when Daniel asked him to have coffee the other day, Alex knew that this was not an invitation; it was a demand. Arizona and Barbara barely even noticed when the two men left the living room and went out onto the deck.

For the first time that night Alex was happy with his sweater. It was wool and it was a brisk early spring night in Seattle so it was perfect for keeping him warm while dealing with the ice cold man standing next to him. Alex stood awkwardly as Daniel stared at him for several minutes.

"I need to be able to trust you with my daughter and my grandchild," Daniel said sternly before taking a drink from his beer. Daniel had always thought highly of Alex until he failed to inform him that his daughter's life was in danger. Arizona was critically injured under his watch. Daniel knew that Alex didn't cause the accident but still – he was the one that was supposed to be taking care of her. Alex had lost a lot of standing in Daniel's eyes over the last week and he needed to work hard to get it back if Daniel was going to trust Alex again.

Alex felt like he was being put on the spot but he knew where Daniel was coming from. Over the past few weeks Alex had quickly learned just how much parents care for their children as he had his own on the way. Alex knew that Daneil just wanted to make sure his daughter was taken care of, so Alex just spoke to him from the heart. "I love your daughter. I know that I'm not the person you thought Arizona would end up with – even ignoring the fact that I'm a guy. I'm not a parent's dream for their child. Most people think I'm a jerk because I speak my mind and don't sugarcoat things. But I grew watching my drug addict father beat the crap out of my mother until I got big enough that I could protect her from him. And then I was kicked around so many foster homes that it made me wish I was back home being beaten up every day because that was better that what happened in the foster homes. So I learned to put up these walls to protect myself from being hurt like that ever again and I don't let people past those walls. My attitude is just a way to keep people out. It's my defense mechanism. But a few years ago, I had this surgery with this know-it-all new peds department head, and she told me that she thought that I could be the future of the hospital. She saw something in me and she believed in me. No one has ever believed in me like Arizona does. And somehow along the way she went from being my boss to being my friend to my best friend to my girlfriend and some day she will be my wife. I'd ask her to marry me today but I know she's not on the same page yet. She's still dealing with this major life change of even liking a man so I know she's not ready to marry me yet… but she's getting there. And one day soon, I will ask her to marry me and she is going to say yes. And this baby… our baby is going to be so incredibly loved. It already is. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much that I haven't even met yet. My family with your daughter will be the best thing that I will ever do with my life. I am going to spend the rest of my life loving your daughter and your grandchildren and doing everything I possibly can to protect them. So while you might not trust me today, you will. Because I'm not going anywhere."

Alex took a long, deep breath after he stopped speaking. He wasn't even sure what he had said. He was pretty sure he gave a damn good speech. He had been on the receiving end of many of Arizona's speeches so he knew that he had to have picked up something from her along the way. He just hoped he had made sense because he just spoke as things came into his head and sometimes his mind wasn't the clearest place to be. And he needed Daniel to know how important Arizona was to him.

Daniel listened carefully to everything that Alex had told him. Most of it was news to him. He didn't know about Alex's childhood. He did know about his smart mouth but overlooked that as he took it as Alex just being brutally honest and Daniel appreciated honesty in any form. Overall, Daniel was impressed with the young man standing in front of him. He didn't expect Alex to stand up to him so firmly. He had expected him to cave and beg for his approval. In his military career Daniel was used to having to break men down to build them back up again. But it sounded like Arizona had already done that with Alex. From what he knew about Arizona and Alex's relationship it sounded like they found each other when they were both very broken and then they built each other back up together. Even though he personally thought it was too soon to be talking about marriage, Daniel approved of Alex as a future son-in-law and he knew that Alex would take care of his family.

Daniel was still staring at Alex when Barbara's voice carried out onto the deck. "Dan?" she called after her husband. "Danny? Where did you guys go? Come look at the pictures of your grandbaby."

Daniel knew they needed to get back inside. He paused as he walked by Alex and turned so that they were looking at each other. Alex stopped breathing when Daniel stopped right in front of him and stared him down. Arizona had told Alex enough stories about Daniel's Marine Corps' skills to know how easily Daniel could hurt him. He might be older but he was still a Marine. Alex was certain he was a goner when Daniel stopped with only inches separating them.

Daniel stared directly into Alex's eyes, "You make sure you let me know before you plan on asking her to marry you."

Alex's voice was shaky, "Yes, sir."

"And don't forget that I've been to war and I know how to kill," Daniel warned as he walked into the house.

Alex stood stunned out on the deck. He couldn't believe that that is all that Daniel had to say after his speech. In the short time he had known the Robbins family, he knew that Daniel wasn't a many of few words. He was a man of many words. He had taught Arizona her speechifying ways. So Alex was confused when Daniel only gave him a two sentence response. He figured Daniel must have approved of at least some of the things he had to say because Daniel didn't tell him that he couldn't marry his daughter. Alex was sure that if Daniel disapproved, he certainly would have said so. They both shared the brutally honest trait. The warning about killing Alex wasn't anything new to him. Daniel liked to remind everyone about his military service and Alex knew that was his way of telling him to take care of his daughter.

"Alex," Arizona called out from the house when her dad returned but her boyfriend was still missing. "Where are you?"

Alex broke out of his daze on the deck and went inside. He was happy that Arizona was right where he left her on the couch. She had a dazzling smile on her face as she showed her parents the latest ultrasound pictures. At twelve weeks the baby actually started looking less like a blob and more like a baby with a discernable head and limbs. Arizona looked so happy and excited as she pointed out different things to her parents in the pictures. Arizona looked up from the pictures to find Alex staring at her from the entrance to the living room. She needed him closer to share this moment with her family. Arizona beckoned him closer with her finger and Alex couldn't refuse. He joined her on the couch and linked their fingers together again. He leaned over to see what picture the grandparents were looking at and smiled as he saw his unborn child; those pictures always put a smile on his face. Arizona and Barbara dominated the conversation the rest of the night as they talked everything baby with Alex only speaking up when a question was directed at him or he had a strong opinion on the subject. Alex was content to sit and hold Arizona's hand as she went baby crazy with her mother. It was moments like this that he feared he might never get when he sat by her bedside in the hospital.

**…**


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: It's my birthday so I figured I'd give y'all a chapter as a celebration of my turning another year older. Plus, I won't be around much the rest of the week to update. I know this might seem a little slow moving but I felt that it was important to not skim over the recovery process. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The hospital cafeteria was just as busy as it always was. Between doctors and nurses who worked weird shift hours and visitors the cafeteria was almost never empty. The hospital employees were just like high school students and cliques were most prominent in the cafeteria. Tables in the hospital cafeteria couldn't be reserved but there was always one table that no one dared to sit at for fear of the consequences from the clique that commandeered that table. In the center of the cafeteria, among all of the action was where the popular clique could be found – the surgeons. Who filled the table varied day to day based on who was on shift and not in surgery but it was unofficially always occupied by the surgical department heads and attending surgeons.

Alex kept checking his watch. The day was going by so slowly. Alex had found that not having Arizona at work made the days go by much slower than normal. He was used to getting to see her quite a few times a day while at work even if it was only for a few minutes at a time. Work without Arizona sucked.

"Are we keeping you from something?" Meredith directed toward Alex after watching him check his watch for the fifth time over the course of their short lunch.

Alex pulled his eyes off of his watch and back to his sandwich, "No. Arizona's just supposed to be here soon."

"Oh yeah. First day of PT. I wanted to stop by and say hi too," Teddy was grateful for the reminder or she would have completely missed seeing Arizona.

"Who is she going to be working with?" Callie asked. Callie worked closely with the PT department and wanted to make sure Arizona had the best doctors working to help her get better. She didn't want some idiot physical therapy messing up all of the work she did to put Arizona's bones back together

"Painter," Alex answered. "He any good?"

"Jason? Yeah, he's probably the best. He's tough but gets the job done," Callie informed Alex.

"I'm more worried for him than her," Alex rolled his eyes. "Arizona is hell bent on walking as soon as possible."

"Oh she's in for a harsh reality with Jason then," Callie laughed evilly. "He'll lay down the law."

"Good," Alex took a bite of his sandwich. "I'm sick of being the bad guy around the house. Even Arizona's dad is letting her do whatever she wants. I came home from work yesterday and she had him working on some strength training with her. I expected that he would at least help me keep her in line."

"She told me the other day that she played the baby card on him and he's been putty in her hands ever since," Teddy explained why Daniel was helping Arizona to break the rules of her recovery.

"Figures," Alex muttered quietly. She had been using the baby card for everything recently and no one was immune to it.

"How did the in-laws take the Evil Spawn spawn news? Did The Colonel hit you for corrupting his daughter?" Cristina's eyes brightened at the thought of Daniel Robbins reaction to the news. Cristina had only met him once but it was enough to make an impression on her that he was not a man to be messed with.

Alex sucked on his straw, "They were surprised."

"Like the rest of us," Meredith added.

Alex ignored Meredith's comments, "But they're happy about it, I think. Barb went to get groceries the other day and came home with baby clothes instead. Dan threatens to kill me on a daily basis and says the only reason I'm still alive is because I'm his grandchild's father but he says it with a smile."

"Becoming a grandparent will change any man. I mean Thatcher was on the floor playing with stuffed animals at my house yesterday. _Thatcher Grey_," Meredith emphasized. "The Colonel will be a big pile of mush with your baby too."

"Yeah, Dan is thrilled with the grandchild part of it. He's already sketching out plans to build a playground in the backyard. He's just not a fan of how the child came to exist. I can't touch Arizona without getting the evil eye."

"None of us are," Cristina scrunched her nose. "I still don't get you two together."

All of the girls that were sitting with Alex agreed. They were all getting used to the idea of Alex and Arizona together but it was still difficult to wrap their minds around. The fact that due to Arizona's injuries they weren't seeing them together on a daily basis made it that much harder for them to accept it.

Alex just shrugged his shoulders and took another bite of his sandwich. He didn't care if people understood his relationship with Arizona or not. They were happy and that's all that mattered to him. Alex stopped caring what his friends thought about his relationships a long time ago. The rest of lunch was filled with talk from Meredith about her daughter's first steps. Teddy and Callie were squeeing with the news while Cristina gagged herself.

"Alex!" a loud voice boomed from the cafeteria door. "You're late," the voice spoke even louder even though the speaker was getting closer to the cafeteria table.

Alex jumped up as soon as he heard his name being called, "Sorry sir." Alex glanced at his watch. "Arizona's appointment isn't for another ten minutes."

Daniel placed his hand on Alex's shoulder and squeezed just a little harder than necessary, "In the Robbins' world, being early is on-time and being on-time is late. So you are late."

"Sorry, sir. It won't happen again," Alex apologized and started grabbing his belongings. He should have known better. Alex was mentally kicking himself for his mistake; he knew Daniel was bringing Arizona to her appointment and the man was always early.

Daniel took his hand off of Alex and noticed that there was four pair of eyes on him from Alex's lunch companions. They were all trying to hide their smiles. They were no doubt enjoying watching Alex squirm. "Sorry for the intrusion, ladies. I hope we didn't ruin your lunch."

"Of course you didn't, Colonel," Teddy spoke for the group. Teddy and Daniel had become fast friends over the years. Arizona always made sure that Teddy was seated next to her father at any group dinners involving her friends so that Teddy could occupy Daniel with military stories.

Daniel sent a grateful head nod and smile in Teddy's direction, "Well then, excuse us. We better be going before we're even later than we are already."

"Let Arizona know I'll stop by before she leaves," Teddy asked before Daniel and Alex could leave the cafeteria.

The table of girls watched as Daniel and Alex walked out of the cafeteria. They could hear Daniel continuing to harp on Alex for his tardiness as they left. It was amusing to see Alex fear someone. Normally Alex didn't care what anyone thought of him, that was what he was known for, but they could tell that Alex was working hard to get Daniel Robbins' approval.

**…**

Arizona was attempting to turn circles in her wheelchair when Alex walked into the physical therapy room. Arizona was just grateful to be out of the house. Going to the hospital for physical therapy was the only time she had been allowed to leave the house besides their one night out for dinner.

"Hey," Alex greeted as he leaned down to kiss Arizona on the cheek.

Arizona grabbed hold of Alex's shirt and pulled him away from her cheek and onto her lips. "That's better," she murmured when she finally let him go. "What'd you do with my dad?"

"He wanted to get some coffee and read his book. He says he'll be back promptly at three to pick you up. I don't think he really wanted to watch you be in pain," Alex explained as he kneeled next to her. On the walk up to the PT room Daniel asked Alex what was likely to happen during the appointment and when Alex explained that physical therapy was going to be a very painful process, Daniel immediately excused himself from the activity.

Arizona cringed when Alex mentioned pain. Arizona had officially weaned herself off all of her painkillers during her week at home even though Callie recommended she keep taking them through at least the first week of therapy. Arizona knew the next two hours were going to hurt but she'd rather be in pain than put pain medicine in her system; she knew the pills were deemed safe for pregnancy but she didn't want to take any chances.

"I'm sure today won't be so bad," Alex rubbed Arizona's good knee when he noticed her cringing. "It's only the first day. Today is going to be like orientation. You never do any real work on the first day of school."

"In my class we do," Jason spoke as he entered the room, having overheard Alex's statement. He glared at Alex before making eye contact with Arizona. "Ready to get started, Arizona?"

"Definitely," Arizona smiled. The sooner she started the sooner she would be up walking.

"Great," Jason clapped his hands together before pushing Arizona over to a mat on the floor.

Alex was standing against the back wall of the large room when he watched Jason put his hands out to help guide Arizona out of the wheelchair and onto the floor. "I can do that," Alex tried to stop the other man from touching his girlfriend.

"I got it, Alex. I do this every day," Jason smiled through his teeth. He was trying not to get mad at the other doctor who was trying to tell him how to do his job. Alex continued to glare at Jason as he positioned Arizona's legs on the mat. "Okay Arizona, I'm just going to work on stretching your left leg muscles."

"Fuck," Arizona yelled a few seconds after Jason started pushing and pulling on her bad leg.

Alex immediately pushed off of the wall and rushed to Arizona's side. The woman he loved was yelling in pain and he needed to do something to stop it. It was instinct. "Are you okay?" Alex said as he got down on his knees on Arizona's good side.

Arizona fought back tears of pain and nodded that she was okay.

"She's fine, Alex," Jason said sharply. He was not happy with Alex's presence in his PT room. For Arizona to get better she was going to have to go through a lot of pain and Jason couldn't have Alex rushing to her side every time she yelped in pain.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex asked again. The tears in her eyes told him that Arizona was not okay.

"Dr. Karev," Jason barked as he continued to stretch out Arizona's leg. "You need to leave. I can't do my job with you here."

"But," Alex growled.

Arizona interrupted him and tried to smile through the pain, "I'll page you when we're done. I'll be fine. I promise."

"Fine," Alex said as he glared at Jason and left the room. He was not a fan of being kicked out of the PT session but he didn't want to upset Arizona so he just did as she asked.

**…**

Arizona's first physical therapy session hurt. It hurt a lot. She knew it was going to hurt but she didn't expect it to be that bad. Every move that Jason made her do put her in excruciating pain. Arizona had a whole new respect for her patients that had to go through this. No longer would she tell them that PT was no big deal. It hurt but she didn't quit. She didn't give up. She didn't even ask for a break. Every time she wanted to stop she thought about her baby and how she needed to be back to normal by the time the baby was born. She tried not to think about the fact that she was going to spend two hours a day, three days a week in physical therapy for the foreseeable future. After what seemed like forever, Arizona was more than happy to see her father standing outside the PT room windows. She knew that if her father was there then PT was over for the day.

Daniel was soon joined by both Alex and Teddy as they waited for Arizona to be released from her torture session for the day. After a quick chat with her boyfriend and best friend, Arizona was more than happy to be headed home.

"So how was it?" Daniel asked his daughter as he drove them back to her house.

Arizona was staring out the window watching the drizzle come down. Her muscles were still aching and sore. "It sucked."

"Language, Arizona," her father scolded her much like he had done her whole life. She may be an adult but she would always be his baby.

Arizona rolled her eyes. She was thirty-five years old yet she still wasn't allowed to say sucks or crap, let alone any actual curse words, in front of her parents. "Sorry, sir."

"I thought you were looking forward to starting PT?" Daniel glanced over to see his daughter continuing to look out the window.

"I was. It's just a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I can't even wiggle my toes without being in tears."

Daniel reached out and grabbed Arizona's hand. It was still in a cast so he could only grab her fingers but it was still comforting. "You are the strongest person I know, Arizona. You'll be just fine. You just have to give it time."

"Dad, you know former prisoners of war. I am not the strongest person you know."

"But you are. You were openly gay at eighteen years old at a time when being gay wasn't accepted – at all. You didn't care what people thought of you. You made a point to hold your girlfriends' hands when you were out in public. You weren't going to hide who you were for anyone. Hell, you didn't even blink when came out to me – your very conservative Republican father. You don't have to go to war to be strong, honey. And now you're dealing with Alex and I know I only spent a few hours at the hospital today but I heard what people were saying about you and Alex. You put up with a lot of, _pardon my language_, crap just for being who you are. If you can deal with all of that then you can easily get over something as silly as learning to walk again."

Arizona's lips curled into a smile, "Thanks, Dad."

"Plus, you have Alex now. I know he's going to help you get there."

Arizona finally pulled her gaze away from the window. "Does that mean that you'll stop threatening to kill him?" Alex never once complained to Arizona about her father but Arizona wasn't oblivious; she could see that her father was giving him a hard time.

"I wouldn't go that far," Daniel laughed. "You are my only daughter after all."

"Tell me what you think of him, honestly," Arizona really wanted to know. She valued her parents' opinions and needed to know what he thought of her boyfriend.

Daniel sighed. He didn't really want to have this conversation while they were driving in a car but if his daughter wanted to have it at that moment then they would. "I think that he loves you very much."

"But…" Arizona was waiting for him to really say what he thought. Her father always had an opinion about the people she dated and he never kept it to himself.

"But nothing, Zona. He loves you. I can see that by the way he takes care of you. All a father wants is to know that his daughter is taken care of and loved. And I know Alex is doing a good job at that. I've seen that every day that we've been here."

"Why do I feel like there's still a but coming somewhere in here?" Arizona interrupted her father.

"No buts! Do I think that you two are moving a little too fast? Yes, but nothing can be done about that now," Daniel was obviously referencing her pregnancy. "He's a good guy. He loves you. He's going to be a good father. He obviously has poor taste in football teams but I think over time we can convert him to the 'skins."

Arizona wanted to laugh at her dad's last line but instead it brought tears to her eyes. Her dad was accepting the fact that Alex was going to be in her and thus his future.

Daniel noticed Arizona wipe her eyes, "Honey, I didn't mean to make you cry. I like Alex."

"I know, Dad," Arizona wiped another rogue tear off of her cheek. "It's just these stupid hormones." Now that she was off most of the prescription medicines she was finally starting to feel pregnant as the drugs weren't messing with her body chemistry anymore. She was lucky that she probably missed having morning sickness since she was now in the second trimester but now she found herself crying at almost anything instead.

Daniel wasn't totally comfortable talking about pregnancy symptoms with his daughter. He was an old school guy. When his children were born men had just started to be allowed in the delivery room. He chose to steer the conversation to a different pregnancy topic. "So do you think we're going to have a new baby boy or a baby girl to add to the family?"

Arizona rested her hands over her nonexistent baby bump. "I don't know. Alex says it's going to be a girl but I'm leaning towards a boy."

"Not too much longer until you can find out, right?" Daniel asked trying to remember how far into the pregnancy those things could be determined.

"Another month or so but Alex and I have decided to keep it a surprise."

"You hate surprises."

"Oh I know," Arizona laughed. "But Alex wants it to be a surprise so I'm giving in to him."

"Look at you compromising already. You and Alex already have it all figured out." Daniel paused for a moment as he remembered his conversation with Alex from a few days prior. He wanted to see if his daughter was feeling the same way as Alex was regarding their future together. "So you and Alex…"

"Yeah?" Arizona looked up at her father wondering what was going to come out of his mouth next. She never knew what he was going to say when it involved her relationships. She just hoped it wasn't about their sex life.

"Is he the one?"

"The one?"

"Yeah. Like your forever person."

"Like marriage?" Arizona asked and her father nodded. Arizona couldn't help the smile that took over her face. She lit up as she thought about saying 'I do' to Alex. Daniel knew the answer to his question just by looking at his daughter. Ever since she woke up from the coma she couldn't help but think about marrying Alex. After almost dying for a second time she knew she wanted to be with Alex for the rest of her life. "Yeah, he is. Is that okay with you?"

Daniel guided the car into the garage and put it into park. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned so that he was facing his daughter fully. "I think it is. You know that no one can ever replace your brother but I admit that it is really nice having another guy around again. I love you and I love your mother but there is only so much What Not to Wear that I can handle. So now with Alex around at least the vote over the television channel will be tied. And when my grandson is born we will outvote you women and take power of the remote control."

"You're so sure it's a boy?" Arizona smirked as her father got out of the car to help her into the house.

"After all these years of you and your mother, I hope so," Daniel winked.

"I'll see what I can do for you then, Dad."

"That'd be great," Daniel placed a kiss on Arizona's cheek. "Now do you want the couch or bed?"

"Bed," Arizona groaned as Daniel wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her get inside. Every part of her hurt and she just wanted to collapse in bed until Alex got home and made her do her physical therapy homework.

**…**

"I hate you. I hate you. I _hate_ you," Arizona repeated as she sat on the side of the tub watching as Alex got it ready for her.

"I haven't even done anything yet," Alex protested.

Arizona crossed her arms over chest, "But you're about to."

"Doctor's orders," Alex told her as he turned off the faucet to the bath tub.

"Well, I'm a doctor and I'm overriding these orders."

"And I'm also a doctor and I'm overriding your overriding of these orders," Alex argued back as he slipped his hands underneath her legs and gently lifted her up.

"No!" Arizona screeched. "No! No! No! Alex if you put me in there you are dead to me. _Dead_, Alexander!"

Alex ignored her and gently put her down into the tub that was filled with cold water and two huge bags of ice.

"I _hate_ you," Arizona reiterated as her teeth began to chatter together from the cold of the ice bath.

"I love you," Alex countered. "This is going to make you feel better. The cold is good for your muscles. It's going to help the healing process from all the good work you did during PT today."

Arizona rolled her eyes as she continued to shiver. She couldn't remember a time when she had been that cold. Sitting in a tub of ice wearing only a bra was a new low for her. Alex looked so warm and cozy as he sat on the side of the tub in his jeans and hoodie. It wasn't fair. "That doesn't make this feel any better."

"It's just a few more minutes," Alex said as he glanced at his watch.

After a very painful ten more minutes for Arizona she was finally granted relief from the freezing torture of the bath tub when Alex wrapped her up in a fluffy towel.

"Better?" Alex whispered into her ear as he rubbed her sides up and down in an attempt to warm her up.

Arizona was still shivering but being in Alex's arms always made her feel better. "A little," she said as she buried her head in Alex's chest trying to get all the warmth that she could from his body.

"Well I know what will make you feel a lot better."

"Oh what's that? Because if it's what I'm thinking then sadly that will just make me hurt no matter how badly I want it right now."

Alex laughed and walked Arizona into the master bedroom where the fire was already lit in the fireplace and Arizona's favorite pair of pajama pants and thermal top were waiting on the bed. On the dresser were two bowls of homemade soup and some tea that Barbara delivered while they were in the bathroom. It was all of the ingredients necessary to warm Arizona up.

"I might not be able to warm you up that way, but I can feed you some warm food and put you in some warm clothes because you still look very cold," Alex remarked as his eyes were focused on her very perky chest.

Alex and Arizona spent the evening cuddled up in bed together. It only took an hour for Arizona to stop complaining about being cold.

"I feel like we're being anti-social. Your parents are only here for another full day. Shouldn't we be downstairs with them?" Alex wondered as the credits rolled on the movie they had been watching.

"They're fine," Arizona said as she grabbed the remote and started flipping through to find something else to watch. "They've been here for over a week. I've spent practically every waking moment with them. They can spend one night alone together so that we can spend the night alone together."

"I know they can," Alex looked up at Arizona from where he had his head resting on her shoulder. "But I'm still trying to get them to like me as your boyfriend and being upstairs behind a closed bedroom door with their daughter can't be a good way to make that happen."

"Alex?"

"Yes, babe?"

"Look at where your hand is at."

Alex glanced down to where his hand had slipped underneath Arizona's shirt and was covering her still flat stomach. He found that her stomach had become a magnet for his hands and anytime he could, he was touching it and trying to connect with their baby as much as possible.

Arizona covered his hand with her own and pressed down gently, "We have a baby in here. And my parents had two children themselves so I'm pretty sure they know how this baby got here. This is proof of us having had sex at least once."

"True. But still, your dad reminds me daily that you are his baby girl." Alex rubbed his hand on her stomach. "And I know that our baby girl will never be in a room alone with a boy. Ever. I don't care how old she is."

"Right. That will _never_ happen," Arizona laughed. "What if this is a boy?"

"Boys are not allowed alone in rooms with girls either. Girls these days are just as much trouble as boys. I mean, you practically forced yourself on me in Africa," Alex teased as his hand shot off of Arizona's stomach like he burned it on a stovetop.

"What?" Arizona asked as Alex was staring at her with his mouth open.

"Our daughter! She's going to be just like you. She's going to be pushing herself on the boys…or girls. It's not them I need to worry about – it's her!"

"What about you? You slept with how many girls before you even graduated high school? Our son will be dropping his pants for anyone who looks at him."

Both Arizona and Alex burst into laughter. A year ago they never would have believed it if someone had told them that they would be debating about the bad traits that they would be passing on to their unborn child. It was incredible what could happen in under a year.

"Well," Alex said as the laughter died down and pulled Arizona into his arms. "I think this just means that we can't ever tell our kids about what we used to be like before we turned into their boring old married parents who have no lives." Alex cursed himself silently as soon as the 'married' word left his mouth. They had never even really spoken about marriage. They had just decided that they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend and Arizona had a mini-meltdown about that – he didn't want to put any pressure on her. Alex just hoped that Arizona had missed what he said or if she did hear it she just ignored it.

"Married?" Arizona questioned while turning her body to look up at Alex only to see him avert his eyes and look at the television.

Alex's mouth hung open. She heard it and she wasn't pretending that it didn't happen. Alex didn't know what to say. "I mean… yeah. Uhh… someday, right?" Alex stumbled over his words.

"I really hope that this isn't your marriage proposal."

"It's not," Alex said quickly. Alex sighed and rubbed his hand over his face when he saw the perplexed look on Arizona's face. He decided to just be honest. "Shit. That's not what I meant. I mean, that's not how I'd propose."

Arizona couldn't believe the drastic shift in their conversation from their baby to marriage. She could tell that Alex was incredibly nervous but she just wanted to know what he was thinking. "So you do want to marry me?" she asked softly.

"Of course. I mean, if that's something that you would like…someday."

Arizona loved seeing Alex so flustered over the marriage topic. She could tell by the way he was fumbling over his words that this was definitely something that he wanted. He was just worried about if she wanted it too. "Yes… I mean, yeah," she slowed herself down when she realized that it sounded like she was accepting a marriage proposal from him which he had made clear he wasn't doing _yet_. "Someday. Us being married would be good."

"Yeah," Alex agreed as he glanced up at Arizona and smiled. He felt like a teenager who had just asked a girl out to prom. Arizona had just given him confirmation that she was on the same page as him about their future. Someday they would be married.

**…**

After ten days in Seattle the Robbins family had to return home to DC. Even though she dreaded her parents visiting, Arizona was sad to see them go. After they got past the initial residual anger about Arizona and Alex failing to tell them about the accident, everything had gone swimmingly. They formed a routine with Alex at work and her parents helping out around the house. They felt like a family. Barbara and Daniel promised that they would be returning to Seattle soon. Barbara wanted to help put together her grandchild's nursery while Daniel had grand plans to have a playground built in the backyard before the baby was even born.

With the departure of Arizona's parents, Arizona's day to day care became more difficult. When Alex was at work, Arizona was all alone. She was moving easier on her crutches but it was still difficult and she couldn't go up or down stairs at all. Also, she had physical therapy three times a week and since she couldn't drive herself there or back, she and Alex had to find a way to make everything work.

Alex was having a busy day at work. He had a morning full of surgeries and after using his lunch hour to pick Arizona up and bring her to the hospital for PT all he had to look forward to was teaching a skills lab to some interns. Alex hated teaching skills labs. He swore that the interns got stupider every year. There was no way that he was ever as stupid as the current batch of interns. They were horrible and because of that they had to be watched constantly. Watching the interns were his residents' jobs but that meant that his residents weren't as available to help with surgeries and he needed them back so that he could spend more time at home and less time working. Alex's solution was to get the interns into more skills labs so that they could get better quicker. Chief Hunt loved the idea so much that he put Alex in charge of implementing it. Not exactly what Alex wanted as it was just another collateral duty to keep him away from home longer which was the opposite result that he wanted.

It was early in the evening when he finally finished teaching the interns how to put in a central line – something they should have learned months ago. Due to his teaching lesson, Alex would have to spend an extra hour at least in the hospital going over the rest of his cases before going home. An hour that he should have been spent at home with Arizona.

Alex strolled up to the nurses' station and asked for his charts. The young nurse looked flustered as she looked all over and couldn't find any of the five charts he asked for.

"What do you mean you can't find them?" Alex asked. He had no idea how it was possible to lose the charts. There was a system for a reason.

The nurse checked the shelf again, "They're not here, Dr. Karev."

"How hard is it to do your damn job?" Alex was getting frustrated. He was already stuck at work later than he was scheduled and after an aggravating afternoon with the interns this nurse was not helping anything.

"I – I don't know," the nurse started shaking as she could see Alex getting angrier. She had only been on the job for a few months and was still in her probationary period. She didn't need a write-up from an attending surgeon in her personnel files.

"Dr. Robbins asked for all the charts earlier," Nancy McCormick interjected to save the young nurse from Alex Karev's impending wrath.

"She what?" Alex asked very confused. Teddy should have taken Arizona home over two hours earlier.

"She said she wanted to get caught up on the cases in the department. She's in her office now," Nancy explained, knowing full well that would make Dr. Karev forget about his anger toward the nurses and instead put it onto Arizona.

Alex growled. She was supposed to be at home resting, not working. He started to storm off toward Arizona's office when he realized that he needed to apologize to the nurses. Arizona would be proud of him for apologizing without being told to do so. "I'm sorry for getting angry at you," he apologized. "It's not your fault that Dr. Robbins is misbehaving."

The young nurse smiled sheepishly and Alex took that as acceptance of his apology. He wouldn't go so easy on the woman who was supposed to be at home.

Her office door was closed and unlocked. The overhead lights were off in the office. Arizona knew she wasn't supposed to be there so she was making it look like the room was empty.

Arizona was shocked when her office door flung open and Alex stood in the doorway. She could tell by the look on his face that she was in trouble. And when he remained silent and just stared at her she knew that she was _really_ in trouble.

"Look, it's been five weeks since the accident. I think I can do more than just sit on the couch or in bed all day," Arizona started to defend herself.

Alex walked into her office and closed the door. He didn't want to provide even more fodder for the nurses than he already did that day. He held up one finger toward Arizona to get her to stop talking.

"Your doctors. _Doctors_," Alex emphasized the word hoping he was getting through to the stubborn woman. "Have said that you are to be resting and not working right now." Alex waved his hands at the pile of charts on the coffee table in front of where Arizona was sitting on the couch, "This is not resting."

"But –" Arizona tried to argue.

Alex wasn't having any of it. Arizona had almost died on him and he wasn't going to let her risk her recovery. "But nothing, Zo. You're a doctor. You know better. You expect your patients to follow your orders just like your doctors expect you to follow theirs."

"Alex… you don't know how bored I am. I sit at home all day. Alone. I can't watch another episode of _The Doctors_ without wanting to punch them in the face because they are idiots and the fact that millions of people are watching them for medical advice makes me cringe. All the while you get to come to work and fix tiny humans and see our friends and I'm home alone."

Alex's anger began to lessen. He knew he would be just as frustrated and bored if he was stuck at home all day too. He sighed as he sat next to her on the couch. "I know this sucks for you but I just want you better and your doctors know the best ways to get you better."

"I still don't see how me working from my office couch is any different than sitting on the couch at home."

"Because for one this couch is not very comfortable."

"So, it's good enough for me," Arizona was starting to act like a child.

"When does Jason say you can come back?" Alex asked, knowing that Arizona asked Jason about when she could return to work at the end of every session. Alex knew that he needed to give something for Arizona to look forward to if he was going to get her to stop working.

"Next week," Arizona mumbled, hoping that Alex missed what she had said.

Alex tried not to get mad. If Arizona was going to be allowed back at work the next week then she had no reason to be in the office today; it wasn't like she had to wait another month. "Okay, so this is what's going to happen. I'm going to take these charts from you then I'm going to review them while you lay down on the couch and rest. Then I'm going to take you home and you're not going to argue when you sit in the ice bath for fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?" Arizona cut Alex off. No way was she sitting in the ice bath for five minutes longer than necessary.

Alex nodded his head up and down. "Fifteen minutes. And then you will lay in bed the rest of the night and you will continue to follow our routine until Monday when I will not argue with you when you try to come to work provided you follow your doctor's orders while you are at work."

Arizona didn't protest when Alex took the chart out of her hands and started reviewing it. She didn't protest when he got up off the couch and forced her to lie down as he pulled her office chair over so that he could finish his work for the day. Arizona knew better than to argue with him when he used his doctor voice with her.

After thirty minutes of silence Alex finished his last chart and took them back to the nurses' station. One quick chat with his resident on duty and he was ready to go home. Arizona had been sulking ever since he put her in his place and it was starting to make him feel bad.

He placed his hand on Arizona's lower back as she slowly made her way out to Alex's car. Callie had removed the cast from Arizona's hand earlier in the week which made it easier to use her crutches but it was still painful especially after a day of physical therapy. Alex knew that he was going to deal with a pouty Arizona all night if he didn't do something to make it better. So even though he knew that he was in the right he made a peace offering.

"How about we get some milkshakes and burgers for dinner on the way home?" He offered. He knew that Arizona would cheer up after a chocolate milkshake.

Arizona tried not to let Alex see her smile. She wanted him to think that she was still mad at him but a milkshake did sound heavenly. She hated that one of her weaknesses was that she was easily bribed with food. "From Dick's?" she countered. Only a milkshake from Dick's would be good enough to make up for Alex being a brat to her about her working.

"Of course," Alex held open her car door for her and took her crutches as she gently hopped into the passenger seat.

It was only when they were halfway to Dick's that both Arizona and Alex realized what was about to happen. They were going to drive by the spot of the accident. Up until that point, Alex had gone out of his way to avoid driving by it. He always took the long way home but to get to Dick's he had to go right by it. Alex didn't know if he should say anything to Arizona about it or not. He didn't want to upset her.

When they were only a block away from the spot, Alex heard Arizona take a sharp breath. Alex reached out and grabbed Arizona's hand across the center console.

"Pull over," Arizona demanded as she stared out the window. She needed to see the spot for herself. She didn't remember much from the accident and she didn't really want to but she needed to see, _really see_, where she almost died.

Alex squeezed Arizona's hand tighter. "Arizona we don't have to do this now. It's almost dark and you've had a long day."

"I need to do this Alex."

Alex nodded and pulled into the closest parking spot off the road. Alex went to the site of the accident a couple of days after it happened. When he was there the police tape was still up and he could see where Arizona's blood had stained the sidewalk. The scene made Alex throw up. He hated seeing where Arizona laid unconscious and where he almost lost his entire future. Alex was grateful that all of the reminders of the accident were no longer there. Arizona didn't need to see that. She lived with the reminders daily she didn't need something else to haunt her in her dreams.

Arizona crutched out to the sidewalk. She looked up and down the busy road. It looked completely normal. She had ridded her bike up and down that road countless times. She knew the route like the back of her hand.

"Do you know where it happened?" Arizona asked. She only remembered the general location of where she was hit but she wanted to know the specifics.

"I do," Alex whispered as he stood behind her, helping to hold her up.

"Walk me through it."

"I don't think –"

"Alex, walk me through it."

Alex nodded and led Arizona to the other side of the street. The side of the street where it all happened. He showed her where she was hit. He showed her the fading skid marks that the car made when it sped away from the scene. He then walked her to the sidewalk and pointed out where they found her bike and then where her body landed after the impact. Arizona stood at the spot where her body was found for several minutes in silence. It wasn't until he saw her body shaking that Alex realized that she was crying.

"Hey, it's okay," Alex soothed as he wrapped her up in his arms. Arizona immediately let the grip on her crutches go and turned into Alex's arms. "You're okay and that's all that matters," Alex tried to calm her down but she just kept crying harder.

Arizona let herself fall apart once she felt Alex's arms around her. "I shouldn't be here," she said through her sobs.

"Then let's go," Alex was ready to get her out of that painful situation.

"No. I shouldn't be here. Like alive."

"Yes, you should," Alex kissed the top of her head as she continued to cry. "What shouldn't have happened is that asshole shouldn't have driven off the side of the road into your bike lane and nearly killed you. But you should definitely still be here. Because what would I do without you? And our baby? I love you too much to let you go."

"I'm angry," Arizona admitted as her cries started to soften. "The person that did this is going to get away with it."

"Me too," Alex whispered. Without a license plate or camera footage, the cops had no leads to go on to find the person responsible. While the assailant would probably only get probation and a fine if they were found, Alex still wanted to be able to tell them off in person. He wanted to be able to tell them just what he thought of their cowardly act of running away from the scene of a crime and leaving an injured woman on the side of the road. But the police had already told them that they were out of leads and the only way they would get them is if they turned themselves in.

Arizona wiped her tears and pulled out of Alex's arms. She took one last look around the street and sidewalk. She had seen enough. The pain was still too raw for her to be there any longer. She knew over time she would eventually be able to visit the street without flashing back to that day but that day wasn't there yet.

"Milkshakes now," Arizona declared as she let go of Alex and gripped her crutches.

"Milkshakes now," Alex agreed. Two very large milkshakes were necessary to help forget the pain of reliving the day of the accident.

After their two large milkshakes, Arizona was able to convince Alex that the cold of the milkshake should take away the extra five minutes on her ice bath that Alex imposed as a punishment for her evading her ride home from physical therapy to do some work. Alex didn't buy her argument but after their evening stop at the location of the accident, he was willing to let it slide. Alex knew that going to the scene of the crime was an important step for Arizona he just wished it wasn't so painful for her.

**…**


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: This chapter jumps around a bit but hopefully it's not too bad. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona would have been skipping if she could. Not only was she finally allowed back at work after six weeks away but she was also able to ditch the wheelchair and use a walker instead. At first, she was against the walker but if she didn't use the walker then she didn't get to go to work. Walkers were what old ladies used. Walkers were not for pretty young things like herself. But when Alex brought her walker home from the hospital she saw that her walker wasn't an old lady's walker. Alex managed to spray paint the boring gray and turn it into Arizona's favorite color – purple. He also added a bicycle horn and streamers so that she couldn't be missed. But above all of the petty annoyances about how it looked, she had to remember that advancing away from the wheelchair and to the walker was one step closer to walking on her own again.

The plan was that three days a week Arizona was allowed to spend all day at the hospital – or at least the hours that Alex was working. She would do her physical therapy in the morning and then spend the rest of the day taking care of the business side of running the pediatrics department; all of the boring things like paperwork and budgets, not fun things like surgeries. She promised Alex, her physical therapist and Chief Hunt that she would stay in her office but that didn't mean that she wasn't above begging the residents and interns to come to her with their most difficult cases.

On her first day back Alex dropped Arizona off in her office before he headed off to his morning surgeries. He made sure to remind her of her agreement that she was only allowed to go to PT and then do paperwork in her office before kissing her cheek and saying goodbye. As the day went on, Alex was more than pleased when he heard from his well placed spies that Arizona had actually done as she was told.

Arizona was scheduled to be finished with PT right at the start of Alex's lunch hour. He had hoped that she would be in the cafeteria waiting for him but he also knew that sometimes her sessions went longer than planned. He took a seat with the usual suspects when his pager buzzed with a note from the intern he had spying on Arizona letting him know that her PT was over. Alex wasn't surprised when ten minutes later Arizona slowly made her way into the cafeteria using her walker.

"Hey, did you go on 'Pimp my walker', Robbins?" Cristina snarked when she saw Arizona head toward the table with her bright purple walker. Even in a hospital full of walkers, she could not be missed with that thing.

Alex threw a grape at Cristina to shut her up.

"You're just jealous of my sweet horn," Arizona gave a honk as she pushed herself closer to the table, only a little out of breath due to the distance she covered to get from physical therapy to the cafeteria.

Alex jumped up and grabbed a chair from a nearby table and pulled it up to the table for her. He placed a light kiss on her lips as she tenderly sat down for lunch. The couple failed to notice that everyone was staring at them. It was one of the first times that they had been out in the open as a couple in the hospital and everyone was watching, not just those that were sitting at their lunch table. Everyone wanted to see the lesbian and the jerk together in a relationship.

"What do you want, babe?" Alex asked once she was settled in her seat. Arizona had finally stopped protesting every time Alex offered to do a simple task for her. It would take her at least fifteen minutes to get her own lunch while Alex could do it in fewer than five so it was a no-brainer for him to do it for her.

Arizona shrugged her shoulders, "Anything. I'm starved. Jason just killed me for three hours. I swear the extra hour he's added is just purely to torture me."

Alex nodded and went to get Arizona her lunch. He knew full well that he should get her something that he wanted to eat because in all likelihood Arizona was going to eat his lunch while he was gone.

"It looks like PT is going well?" Callie asked once Alex had walked away.

Arizona groaned and pulled Alex's tray in front of her, "Hurts like hell."

"That just means that it's working," Teddy reminded her best friend.

"Easy for you to say," Arizona grumbled as she picked at the grapes on the tray. Arizona noticed that Cristina couldn't keep her eyes off of the walker that was sitting off to the side of the table. "Something you need to say, Yang?"

"I just can't get over your walker. Did the kids do that for you?" Cristina inquired. The only possible explanation for it was that the kids on the peds ward had decided to make their favorite doctor's walker pretty for her.

"Alex did."

Cristina coughed on her drink, "Alex did that?"

"What did I do?" Alex asked as he placed Arizona's lunch on the table. He rolled his eyes when he noticed Arizona already had all of his grapes gone and was working on his salad. He should have been quicker in the lunch line.

"You pimped her walker," Cristina declared.

Alex raised his eyebrows at his friend, "So?"

"So you're Evil Spawn. You don't accessorize a walker."

Alex shrugged, "If it gets her to actually use it unlike the wheelchair then it's worth it."

Cristina coughed, "Whipped."

Alex threw another grape from his newly purchased lunch at his friend.

After everyone got caught up with the latest progress in Arizona's recovery they were able to move on to more important lunch topics such as the latest gossip about the residents. Everyone thought that no group of residents would ever surpass the drama that Meredith, Alex, Cristina, George and Izzie caused but the latest bunch of interns was certainly trying. They even had their own resident falling in love with a patient. Everyone just hoped that no LVAD wires were going to be cut in this relationship. Alex and Arizona's tablemates were engaged in the topics of conversation but couldn't help but noticing how the new couple acted together. Everyone noticed how Alex made sure he was in constant contact with Arizona whether it was by having his hand on her leg or his arm over her shoulder – he was always touching her and she was always leaning into his touch. They also noticed the looks that they kept sharing when they thought that no one was looking; the secret smiles and soft whispers showed a couple that was genuinely in love. No one could deny how happy they looked and even though it was still weird to see Alex and Arizona together, everyone knew that in no time they would be accepted just as much as Meredith and Derek were.

**…**

Arizona woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. The moon was shining into her room through the open window illuminating the empty bedroom. Arizona rolled over in bed without opening her eyes and reached out for her boyfriend. She needed to know that he was okay. She needed his arms around her to make her feel safe. But he wasn't there. When her hand hit the empty sheets instead of a warm body, Arizona jolted into consciousness. She was breathing heavily as she remembered why Alex wasn't in bed with her. He was in Malawi which made her dream that much more real. She had been having the same dream since Alex left for Malawi three days ago. Every night when she closed her eyes she dreamed back to that day in Malawi when they were almost killed. Except this time they weren't alone in Malawi. The events in her dream were much the same as what happened that day but instead they were joined by their baby. A tiny baby boy that Alex had been showing off to nurses when Anton appeared in the hospital and started shooting. Arizona woke up just as Anton pointed his gun at Alex's head and pulled the trigger. Arizona didn't know why the dreams were happening. She hadn't dreamed about that day in a very long time. She knew she needed to talk to someone about them but she couldn't tell Alex about the nightmares. It had taken a lot of persuading to get Alex to even go to Malawi for their scheduled trip. He didn't want to leave her alone for a day let alone a week but Arizona reminded him of their commitment to the children and since she hadn't been cleared to travel then he definitely had to go or else so many children wouldn't get the surgeries they needed. Alex didn't like leaving her but Arizona didn't give him any choice.

After taking a few moments to calm down, Arizona reached out for her cell phone to check the time. It was two in the morning. She groaned when she realized that she hadn't even been asleep for three hours. She wanted to know what happened to the rumor that pregnant woman sleep a lot because that was so not true in her case. She really wanted to use the phone in her hands to call Alex. It was noon in Malawi. He would be at the hospital and probably in surgery. She knew that he would want her to call him but she couldn't let him know about the nightmares. He needed to focus on the children and not on her. She only had five more nights before he would be home and then all would be right with the world again. She put the cell phone down and grabbed the remote to the television. With a couple of taps on the buttons she pulled up Pretty Woman and hoped that watching Richard Gere fall in love with a prostitute would help her get a few hours of sleep before Teddy picked her up for work in the morning.

It was days like that, after a sleepless night, that Arizona wished she could have coffee. Real coffee. Strong coffee. She allowed herself a small cup a day but that wasn't enough caffeine to keep her going throughout the day after very little sleep. The only upside was that she was still relegated to paperwork only so her days at work weren't that taxing.

Arizona was lying on her couch hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep when a soft knock on her office door forced her heavy eyelids to open.

"Come in," Arizona called to her visitor hoping that it wasn't an annoying intern. She feared that she would snap at the next intern to walk into her office with a question that should be directed toward their resident and not the head of pediatric surgery.

Teddy slipped into the office and immediately noticed the heavy bags under Arizona's eyes. "You look like shit."

"You are great for my self-esteem, Teds," Arizona rolled her eyes at her best friend.

Teddy pulled up a chair across from the couch where Arizona was laid out. "You should go home. You don't need to wait for me to take you. I'll get an intern to drive you home."

"I'm fine," Arizona replied. It had been her mantra for days. She was fine. She was a strong woman and she wasn't going to let her boyfriend going away for a week ruin her.

"Sure you are. That's why you look like you haven't slept in a week. What's going on?"

"I'm having nightmares."

"About the accident?"

"No. I don't remember anything about the accident. They're about the shooting in Malawi. I had them a lot right after it happened but then they went away. And now they're back except they're a little different. The baby's there and Alex is being shot and then I wake up."

"For how long?"

"Since Alex left," Arizona frowned and flung her hand over her eyes. She was embarrassed by her dreams. By the dreams that didn't start until Alex left. "Since when did I become that girl, Teddy? The girl that falls apart when her boyfriend leaves?"

Teddy reached out and pulled Arizona's hand off of her face, "It's normal to have anxiety after a situation like that. I still have nightmares about being in the sandbox. I'm no psychologist but I'm sure that the trauma you went through two months ago and almost dying has something to do with these too. Some bullshit about near death experiences, blah, blah, blah."

"Thank you, Dr. Altman."

"Have you told Alex?"

"No way. He'd rush home and he needs to stay there."

"What about your therapist?"

"I have an appointment tomorrow after PT."

"How about we have a sleep over tonight? I've been told I'm a good cuddler," Teddy suggested. "We can watch cheesy movies and eat ice cream in bed."

Arizona pondered the thought for a moment. Maybe having someone to share her bed with would be a good idea. "No funny business though. I've got a boyfriend," she smirked to her best friend.

Teddy held up her hands, "I wouldn't dare."

Almost ten thousand miles away in Lilongwe, Alex knew something was wrong at home. He could feel it every time he talked to Arizona. She tried to focus their conversation on the work he was doing in Malawi but he could hear it in her voice. She wasn't alright. He had fought her hard about going to Malawi. He didn't want to leave her alone. He had his own fears at leaving her alone. He didn't want to be halfway around the world if something happened to her. He was afraid that he would get a phone call in the middle of the night telling him that Arizona was gone. He knew that physically she was practically healed and that none of her injuries was life threatening anymore but that didn't mean that she couldn't get hurt. That also didn't mean that something couldn't happen to their baby. He didn't want to be a day's plane ride away if anything happened but when Arizona looked at him with her sad eyes and talked about all of the sick African kids he couldn't not go. But as soon as he landed in Lilongwe he could feel it in his bones; something wasn't right at home. So it wasn't a surprise when he got a phone call from Teddy telling him that Arizona was having nightmares and not sleeping. Teddy promised him that she was going to take care of Arizona but Alex knew that he was going to be useless in Malawi knowing that Arizona wasn't doing well. After finding out that Arizona was struggling at home, his concentration level was nonexistent. He immediately went to the head of the program and told them that he was leaving as soon as possible. The resident that Alex took with him was going to stay and take over for the last few days. Alex knew that Arizona would be angry with him for not keeping his commitment to the children of Malawi but he was keeping his commitment to her, which was more important to him.

Having Teddy spending the night with her did allow Arizona to get a little more sleep than she had the previous few days but it still wasn't great. As much as she hated to admit it, she was looking forward to her therapy appointment. A year ago she would have never even considered seeing a psychologist but after everything she had been through, she knew the benefits of talking it out and learning tactics for dealing with her traumas. Therapy in all forms both physical and psychological was fixing her life.

After four hours of total therapy for the day, Arizona was hopeful that she would finally get one good night of sleep. Her therapist had given her a few tips to try to keep the nightmare at bay and she could only hope that it worked. She just needed one night of sleep to make it through the rest of Alex's trip. With all of her therapy, she had a long day at the hospital. She was exhausted when Teddy dropped her off at home. She barely had the energy to hobble up the stairs to the master bedroom. She was so tired that she didn't notice that her boyfriend was sitting on the couch in the living room waiting for her to get home. She hobbled right past him on her way to the staircase. She also didn't notice the smell of the takeout he had waiting on the coffee table. Alex chuckled to himself as he watched Arizona make her way upstairs.

Alex let Arizona get a head start. He didn't want to startle her but he knew that was going to be almost unavoidable as she seemed to be in a world all of her own. He crept up the stairs and heard the shower running. Alex snickered as he realized that Arizona was obviously not following doctor's orders of having an ice bath after every day of physical therapy. He knew that Arizona could support herself in the shower without help so he let her have the alone time and waited on the couch in their bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later, Arizona turned the water to the shower off and reached for two towels – one for her hair and the other for her body. Alex made sure he was in perfect view of Arizona. He didn't want to risk scaring her too badly. He knew he'd be sleeping on the couch if he did that. He watched as Arizona went about her routine of getting ready for bed. It was amazing how good Arizona was getting on her crutches. She moved seamlessly around the bathroom. She took her contacts out and brushed her hair before rubbing lotion into her body. Finally, she walked out of the bathroom and headed right for her dresser. It was then that she noticed the man that was sitting on the couch in the bedroom.

"What the –?" Arizona gasped when she realized that she wasn't alone in the house. She threw a hand over her heart. For a split second, before her brain registered that it was Alex, she felt like she was going to jump out of her skin.

"Hey," he said as Arizona registered the fact that he was really there and it wasn't a hallucination. Alex smiled from his spot on the couch as he watched Arizona stand in stupor. It had only been five days but he had really missed his girl. He loved how she looked right before bed. Arizona was at her sexiest when she went without makeup, wore her glasses and was barely wearing any clothing.

"What are you doing here?" Arizona was still shocked.

Alex stood and walked to where Arizona was still resting on her crutches wearing only her underwear and a tank top. "I missed you. And everything for the rest of the week was simple surgeries that Milton could do in his sleep so I left him there and came home to you."

"Alex," Arizona sighed as Alex reached out to touch her. "Who told you?"

"Told me what?" Alex played dumb.

"Teddy called you. Didn't she?"

"She did," Alex nodded slightly and drew himself closer to Arizona's body so that their chests were touching.

"You can't come running home every time I can't sleep," Arizona tried to say sternly while every part of her body was coming alive by the feeling of Alex pressed against her.

Alex tangled his hands in Arizona's hair and drew her in for a much anticipated kiss. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers as he caressed her cheek. "I know but this time I could. So I did."

Arizona decided not to even try to argue because she really did love the fact that he was home. "I missed you," she admitted before kissing him again. "I really missed you."

"I missed you too. I don't think I can leave ever again because I was gone for five days and all of a sudden our baby is showing herself," Alex said as his hand trailed down to caress the baby bump that had popped while he was gone.

"What are you talking about, Karev?"

Alex pulled back and guided Arizona to a full length mirror in the corner of the room. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested them on the bump. "This was not here when I left."

Arizona hadn't noticed the bump before. It was hard for her to see the changes of pregnancy on her own body as they grew slowly over time. Alex had been telling her for the last two weeks that she had a little baby pouch but Arizona refuted saying that it was just fat because she wasn't able to work out anymore. He also spent weeks claiming that her boobs were getting huge and she again refuted saying that they looked bigger because he wasn't getting to see them as much as he used to. But she couldn't deny him this time. She had a baby bump.

Arizona rested her hands on her boyfriend's, "Huh. I guess you're right."

Alex leaned down and kissed her neck as his hands slipped under her tank top to explore the new addition to Arizona's body, "This is amazing. I love that you're showing."

"So you want me to be fat? I'm not sure how I feel about that," Arizona teased. She too had been waiting anxiously to finally be able to see proof of the baby without needing an ultrasound.

"I love it," Alex spun Arizona in his arms so that they were facing. "I can't wait for you to get even bigger. You're going to be even more gorgeous than you already are."

"Right," Arizona rolled her eyes. She was positive by the time she reached the end of the pregnancy she would be anything but gorgeous. She would be bloated, swollen and anything but sexy.

"You," Alex placed a kiss on her lips. "Will," he punctuated his words with another kiss. "Be," he whispered against her lips softly. "Gorgeous," he bent down and placed one last kiss on her stomach before capturing her lips in one more passionate kiss. He had a lot of kisses to make up for after being gone for nearly a week. After a few minutes he could see that Arizona was fading in his arms. "Now, why don't you get in bed while I go downstairs and get the takeout I picked up on my way home and then we're going to talk about why you haven't been sleeping."

"I don't want to talk about it, I just want to sleep," Arizona pouted, hoping that he would let it go. After talking about her dreams in therapy for over an hour, she really didn't want to go through it again.

"We'll talk about it and then we'll sleep," Alex placed a firm kiss on her lips. After he was sure that she would be steady on her feet he let her go and went downstairs to get the food.

Arizona tried to put off talking about her dreams by continuing to shove egg rolls in her mouth, but Alex was patient and he wasn't going to let her off the hook. Teddy had told him that she was having bad dreams but didn't go into what they were about. He wanted to be able to do everything possible to help his girlfriend but he couldn't do that without her help. After she finally ran out of egg rolls to eat she finally let Alex in. Alex held her tight as she went into detail about her dreams and how they all focused on Alex dying. Alex did the only thing that he could which was to remind her that they survived that experience, they survived her accident and all three of them were going to be okay. Alex knew that he needed to lighten the mood of the room before Arizona fell asleep or she was bound to have another nightmare. His hands were covering the perfect topic of conversation.

Alex pulled the covers back and scooted down in the bed.

"What're you doing? I'm cold," Arizona whined when she felt the cold air hit her as Alex threw the covers off of them.

"Shh," he cut Arizona off as he pushed her tank top up so that it rested just under her breasts. He placed a soft kiss right above Arizona's belly button. Alex let his hands roam over the belly. "Hey Baby Bear," Alex used the nickname that he'd had for the baby since they found out they were having a baby when he declared that the baby looked like his favorite candy, a gummy bear, in the ultrasound pictures. "It's your daddy. I know you can't really hear me just yet but that's okay. I missed you so much while I was gone. But you really need to work on taking better care of your mommy when I'm not here. Don't worry, I'll teach you how when you are bigger."

Arizona had tears filling her eyes as she listened to Alex talk to the baby. He had never done that before. He always had her hands on her stomach and always talked about the baby but he had never spoken directly to the baby. Arizona threaded her hands through Alex's short hair as he rested his head on her belly and continued to talk.

"I know Mommy says she can feel you fluttering in there so you need to keep growing big and strong because I would really like to feel you too. Can you work on that for me? Because I'm a little jealous." Alex paused as if waiting for a response. "How about if I promise you a car when you turn sixteen?" He waited for a response again. "Well, I'll let you think about that while I go try to make your mommy stop crying." Alex let his lips linger on Arizona's belly for just a moment longer before whispering, "I love you."

Alex turned his attention back to the love of his life.

"I hate that I'm always crying," Arizona said as Alex wiped at her tears. She lifted her head up and spoke to her stomach, "Stop making me cry so much."

Alex captured her lips in a salty kiss. "I wish I could make you feel good," he whispered as he released her lips.

"You always make me feel good. And you'll make me feel really good if you wrap your arms around me and hold me while I fall asleep."

Alex did exactly that. He rested his head on Arizona's pillow and wrapped her up in his strong arms. He was grateful that she was now healed enough to sleep on her side. He liked having all of her in his arms as they slept. Within minutes he felt Arizona slip into slumber. Alex nuzzled his face into Arizona's neck and let himself fall asleep with her.

**…**

When Arizona first woke up from the coma and learned of her injuries, she had one priority – to be walking as soon as possible. She wanted to be walking after one month but she knew that wasn't realistic. Her next goal was to be walking in two months. And she was walking by the eight week mark, it just wasn't unassisted. She had graduated from a wheelchair to a walker with crutches to use around the house. Arizona missed her first two deadlines for walking and she refused to miss the third. She would be walking, unassisted, by the end of month three.

She worked hard to get there. She spent nine hours a week in physical therapy working to get better. She had graduated from the simple stretching activities and had moved into actual exercises. She did a lot of work in the pool which allowed her to work the muscles without putting pressure on her bones but it was time to step up the game. Her physical therapist kept telling her that she would get there. That she would walk when her body was ready. She finally started feeling ready. Her pain levels had gone way down and she was able to stand on her own for long periods of time. It was time to start moving toward walking without help.

For the last week Jason had her out of the pool and working on the training stairs and parallel bars. With her pregnancy, Jason wasn't going to let her walk unassisted until he was sure that she was ready. He didn't want her to fall and hurt herself or the baby because he let her walk too early.

After spending an hour working on extending her knee and walking in short steps on the parallel bars Jason could see that it was becoming too easy for Arizona. She was walking the length of the bars in under thirty seconds when it used to take her over five minutes. It was time for her to take her real first steps.

"How is it feeling?" Jason asked as he watched Arizona concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other.

Arizona bit her lip in concentration, "Good pain." Over the last ten weeks Arizona had learned a lot about good pain. Good pain was the pain that she was in because she was getting better. She was hurting but it was in a positive way.

Jason wanted to see if Arizona could walk without concentrating so hard so she needed to get her attention but not stop her from walking. He decided to make up a story. "I have a new patient that I'm going to start working with this afternoon. A little four year old that broke both of his legs in a car accident."

"I haven't heard of any peds cases like that," Arizona looked up confused. She would have heard about a patient that was that badly injured in her department.

Jason put his hand on Arizona's back, pushing her to keep walking as she talked to him. "He's coming from Seattle Pres. I'm not used to working on kids that little. Do you think you could help me out with some tips?"

Arizona laughed, "Don't tell him to just suck it up would be a start. His mother might not appreciate that."

Jason continued to watch as Arizona started giving him some strategies for working with young children. She walked up and down the parallel bars twice without stopping to focus on her walking because she was focusing on helping a tiny human.

"Jason," Arizona called. "Are you listening?" she was a little disgusted that he asked for help but he didn't seem to be paying attention to her at all.

"Sorry," he smiled as she continued to walk. "What did you say?"

"Do you want me to be here for his first session? I could help facilitate with his parents."

"No," Jason shook his head. "There's no boy with broken legs. I just made him up."

Arizona stopped walking, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I wanted to distract you from concentrating so hard and look at how much you walked and I didn't see you furrow your eyebrows or bite your lip once."

Arizona's face lit up as she realized that she was walking without thinking about it. She was making great progress.

"Is Alex here today?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought he might want to be here when you take your first steps." Jason braced himself for Arizona's reaction. He had learned over the last ten weeks that she was a hugger. He could only imagine her reaction if she could actually move without difficulty. She would probably jump in his arms if she could.

"Really?" Arizona smiled as she pushed off of the parallel bars and into Jason's arms for a hug.

"Really," he handed Arizona her cell phone from off the table in the room. "Get him down here and we'll have you walk around for a bit and then we'll be done for the day."

Ten minutes later Alex strolled into the physical therapy room. Arizona had just told him that she was done early and she wanted him to pick her up for a lunch date in the cafeteria. She wanted to surprise him with the real reason for his presence in the PT room.

"Stop," Arizona yelled at him as soon as he walked in the room. "Don't move. Stay right there."

Alex looked at his girlfriend curiously but did as he was told. "What's going on?"

"Just stay there, Alex," Arizona reiterated. She turned to Jason and looked for approval, "Okay?"

Jason nodded and smiled.

Arizona had been at the end of the parallel bars when Alex came in so she was at the perfect spot for taking her first steps. She lifted her hands off of the bars that she had been using to support herself. Slowly and very carefully Arizona moved her right foot in front of her. Once it was firmly planted she moved her left. She stared at her feet as she moved; only occasionally glancing up at Alex to make sure she was moving in the right direction. Every time she looked at Alex he had a goofy grin on his face.

Arizona walked herself right into Alex's arms. Her journey across the room was only about twenty paces but they were twenty paces that she thought she might never get to take. It was a miracle that she suffered no spinal cord damage and that her traumatic brain injury wasn't more severe. She had every right to be proud of herself as Alex wrapped his arms around her.

"Look at you," Alex mumbled into Arizona's hair as he held her tight. "You're amazing. How does that feel?"

"Awesome," Arizona smiled into Alex's chest. "Very, very awesome."

Alex released his grip on Arizona so that he could congratulate her properly on her achievement. Alex captured her lips in a kiss, "Very awesome."

Jason cleared his throat before the two could get too carried away in front of him. The two lovers broke apart and looked at the physical therapist. "We're done for the day. Arizona, keep using your walker for longer distances. Just because you can walk now doesn't mean you need to do a lot of it. Rest and ice tonight."

Jason left leaving Alex and Arizona alone in the training room.

Alex pushed a lock of Arizona's hair behind her ear, "I'm so proud of you."

"I kicked ass, didn't I?" Arizona laughed.

Alex leaned in to steal a kiss. She looked so beautiful when she was happy. Her eyes lit up and her smile was as wide as the sky. "You totally did. But I think you've created a monster for us."

Arizona raised her eyebrows. She had no clue what Alex was saying. Alex reached down and rested his hands on Arizona's stomach. Her baby bump at twenty-one weeks was small but prominent. All ten pounds that she had gained during her pregnancy went straight to her belly.

"Baby Bear has already learned to walk once in here," Alex rubbed the bump and pulled Arizona closer to him. "And she has two _really_ smart parents so she's going to be a genius. I'm pretty sure that means that she's going to retain all of this walking business and will be running circles around the house at like six months."

Arizona pushed the bump into Alex's stomach, "Well, while he is definitely going to be _super_ smart I think running at six months might be a bit much unless he comes out of the womb crawling."

"So seven months?" Alex joked.

"Right, seven months."

"Now I think I owe you lunch." Alex held his arm out for Arizona to latch onto, "And I think we can do this without the walker as long as we go slowly and you hold onto me when you need me."

Two weeks after Arizona took her first steps she ditched the walker for good and traded it in for a much sexier walking cane. It was still going to be awhile before she was running marathons and training for triathlons but she was well on her way to getting back there. With each step she was putting the accident further and further behind her and taking one step closer to her future.

**…**


	24. Chapter 24

A/N: Sorry for not being able to update more than once this week. I'm in the process of moving so updates are going to be a bit more sporadic but I still hope to get out at least one a week until this story is wrapped up. As always, thanks for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**...**

Just over four months had passed since the day Arizona was riding her bicycle to work and was sideswiped by a speeding car. Four months of pain and hard work. Four months of resting. Arizona was tired of resting. The next person that told her to rest again was going to get hurt because Arizona was done with resting. She was ready to get back to work. Real work. Not just paperwork in her office but seeing patients and doing surgeries. The only thing that would make her first real day back at work better was her heelies but those were on a self-imposed ban thanks to the baby in her uterus. Instead she donned a pair of dark blue scrubs and laced up a sensible pair of athletic shoes. She had been at work for an hour when she was paged to the pit – a trauma was coming in. Arizona's whole body was on fire – in a good way. Trauma and saving people are what she lived to do. She was getting quicker and while she still couldn't run like she used to, she still made it to the ambulance bay before the bus arrived.

Arizona greeted the stretcher as soon as the doors flew open, "What do we have?" She listened to the paramedic describe the injuries, took control of the stretcher and guided it to a trauma bay. The last time she was in a trauma bay, she was the patient. After a deep breath, she smiled and pulled the stethoscope from her pocket – she was back.

Later that day, Alex found himself sitting at the desk at the nurses' station. He said he needed to use their computer to input patient information but in reality he was snooping. He knew Arizona was rounding on patients on the floor and he wanted to check in on her without checking in on her. He didn't want her to think that he was hovering but in his opinion she was over-doing it for the day. She was pushing an eight hour workday for her first day back. She spent four hours in the operating room and spent the rest of her time getting to know the patients and their families on the floor. Alex knew that she skipped lunch. He knew that she wasn't taking breaks like she was supposed to be doing and he was trying to bite his tongue about that when he really wanted to throw her in her office and force her to eat a sandwich and sit down for an hour – but he didn't do that; in fact he hadn't interacted with her all day because he didn't want her to think that he was hovering.

"You're not being as inconspicuous as you think," Teddy came up from behind Alex.

Alex pretended to be engrossed in the computer screen, "What?"

"You're watching her," Teddy stated. "She knows that you've been watching her all day."

Alex ducked his head down and focused on the computer screen as he saw a flash of blonde hair walk out of one room and into the one next door to it, "Really? I thought I was blending in."

"You think she's not keeping tabs on you too? She's your boss. She's noticed that you've been sending your residents to her all day instead of seeing her yourself."

"I just didn't want to seem like I was checking up on her all day."

Teddy laughed, "But instead you made it look like you, _her boyfriend_, were avoiding her all day when during a normal workday you would spend every second you could with her."

"Oh," Alex didn't realize that avoiding her completely would also send the wrong signals.

Teddy and Alex watched as Arizona left yet another room and made her way to the next. "Why don't you go help her with rounds since you know these patients better than she does? I think she'd like it."

Alex pushed himself out of the desk chair and took Teddy's advice and followed Arizona into the room where he found Arizona introducing herself to Nella Royce and her parents. Arizona looked up and smiled at Alex for a second when she saw him walk in before going right back into work mode and talking with the little girl in the hospital bed.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Alex and Arizona excused themselves from the little girl's hospital room.

"So you decided to stop stalking me finally?" Arizona asked as soon as the door was closed.

"I have not been stalking you," Alex said firmly. It wasn't stalking – he was just keeping an eye on her.

"Riiiiiiiiiight," Arizona drawled. "That's why you've been ducking behind desks every time I walk by wherever it is you're hiding out at."

Alex scruffed his hair and looked at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact. "I just had a lot of paperwork to catch up on today."

Arizona reached down and laced their fingers together. She normally wasn't one for public displays of affection at work, especially on a pediatric floor, but it was after six in the evening so the hospital was fairly deserted. "I think it's kind of cute that you worry."

Alex smiled when he realized he wasn't in trouble.

Arizona didn't want Alex to think he could hover every day though, "But don't think that means that you can get away with it all the time. You had today. Tomorrow you go back to doing actual work and not stalking."

"Only if you promise me you'll actually take your breaks tomorrow." Alex moved his right hand to their baby, "You didn't eat lunch today."

"I did. I ate while I worked. Do you really think I wouldn't eat?"

"I don't know. I know you. And you get so busy working that you sometimes forget!"

Arizona placed all four of their hands on top of her stomach, "This one doesn't let me forget."

Alex smiled when he felt a light kick on his palm.

"See," Arizona said. "He's saying, 'Daddy, Mommy did eat today so give her a break!'"

Alex pursed his lips and stared at her. He was happy to hear that she did eat but wished she would have done so during an actual break and not just eating on the go. "Fine. But from now on – real meals while sitting down? Just because you're cleared to be back doesn't mean you can just jump in feet first. You need to make sure you're resting throughout the day too."

Alex knew he said the wrong word as soon as it left his mouth. He watched as Arizona's face went stone cold and she pushed his hands off of her body.

"What did you just say to me?" Arizona demanded. Alex started walking backwards slowly to get away from the angry woman but Arizona didn't let him get too far as she grabbed him by his scrub top and pushed him against the nearest wall. "I know you did not just say that to me. You of all people know better."

"Arizona –"

"No, Alex. I _am _a doctor," Arizona growled. "Just because I was in an accident four months ago or the fact that I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I have suddenly forgotten how to take care of myself."

Arizona stared at Alex for a moment until her pager buzzed from her lab coat pocket. She grabbed the pager from her pocket, "I gotta go repair a hernia."

"Arizona, you're supposed to be off in an hour. Don't you think…I could –" Alex was going to tell her that someone else could do the hernia repair. He was going to offer his services but Arizona didn't let him finish the sentence.

"Don't," Arizona glared at him. "Don't you even dare say it. Don't you dare question my abilities. I'll see you at home in a couple of hours. I'll get Teddy to drive me."

Arizona turned around and headed the opposite direction toward the elevator to get to the operating room. She made it perfectly clear with her silence and stalking off that she did not want Alex following her. Deep down Arizona knew that she was being irrational about it but pregnancy hormones were a bitch and she had lost the war in keeping them under control. Arizona was sick and tired of people telling her to rest. She really didn't want to hear about it from her boyfriend. He of all people should know how much she did rest. She rested all the damn time. Even now that she was physically better, Alex still refused to let her do many simple tasks around the house instead telling her he could handle it and she should just sit on the couch and watch television. She was tired of being told she couldn't do simple tasks like a hernia repair without resting and she wasn't going to take it anymore.

Alex knew as soon as Arizona walked off he was in trouble. He watched as she walked down the hallway and greeted patients and families as passed them. From the side he could see the fake smile she plastered on her face as she went to greet them. He had done that. He had taken her smile away and forced her to fake it. He knew he messed up – badly. But he worried about her; he worried about her all day, every day. He would be worrying about her if the accident didn't happen. She was carrying their baby and he just wanted what was best for her and the baby. And sometimes his worrying came out as being overbearing. Alex knew he had to make things right and he knew just how to do it – if Arizona would let him.

Alex decided to give Arizona some space. He was done with work for the day so he had no reason to be on the pediatric or surgical floor anymore. He went to the locker room and changed to go home. From there he headed to Arizona's office to wait for her to be ready to go. He knew she said she'd get Teddy to give her a ride home but she wasn't letting her get her way on that. He would take her home even if it was a silent ride. He would have waited in the lounge but he was afraid Arizona wouldn't look for him there and would go home without him. He just hoped that she wouldn't take it as overbearing.

Arizona was in a good mood again by the time she finished surgery. She loved performing simple surgeries that would make life so much better for the patient. After finishing the last of her rounds she was smiling again and ready to go home. Getting to see and interact with the kids on the floor always put a smile on her face. The kids were the best part of her job. Her smile quickly fell from her face when she opened the door to her office and saw Alex on the couch reading on his iPad.

"Hey," Alex greeted as she closed the door and opened her closet.

Arizona didn't respond. She turned her back to him and ignored him as she changed her clothes.

"I'm sorry," Alex tried to get her attention.

Arizona continued to give him the cold shoulder as she grabbed her bag and threw some files in it.

Alex had been so sure that they were having a girl but at that moment he was hoping that he was wrong. Girls could be bitches and he wasn't sure he would be able to survive a house with two girls and all of their hormones. The teenage years would suck.

"Arizona," Alex reached out to touch her but stopped when he saw her move away from him. "I'm sorry. It's just that I love you so much that I can't help it. I just want to take care of you but I will try to pull back. I promise."

Arizona turned around and dramatically rolled her eyes at him. Alex tried to ignore the eye roll and instead focus on the fact that she was at least looking at him again. Arizona lifted her bag and groaned as it settled on her shoulder. After a long day of work the bag full of her laptop and case files was heavy on her shoulder. Alex wanted to reach out and take it from her but he held back, letting her do it on her own. If she wanted him to carry it, she would have given it to him. He gave Arizona her space as they walked out of her office and headed to the elevator. Alex noticed that Arizona kept reaching to massage her back. He knew that being on her feet all day was putting a strain on her still recovering muscles. When she reached back to massage her side for the third time during their short walk to the elevator, Alex couldn't hold back any longer.

Alex silently moved closer to Arizona so that he was standing behind her in the elevator. He let his hands brush against hers as he gently moved them out of the way to replace them with his own. He remained silent as he let his strong hands massage her lower back during the ride to the ground floor. Arizona worked hard not to moan at the feeling of his hands on her back. It felt so good but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction. When the elevator dinged to signal their arrival on the ground floor, Alex removed his hands and let Arizona walk out ahead of him. He assumed that Arizona would continue her walk in front of him to the car but instead she waited for him to catch up to her. She reached her hand out to the side and waited for Alex to grab it. They stayed silent as they walked to the car. Alex didn't miss the small smile that was on Arizona's face when he grabbed her hand. He knew she was still mad but she was starting to warm up to him again.

The ride home was still silent. Once they got home, Arizona went straight upstairs. Alex knew she was headed for the shower. After a long day, he knew that she would be taking a long shower to relax. A long shower was just what he needed to set things up for his plan. It was a perfect early summer night for it. He made a quick phone call to the local pizza joint to take care of dinner. Then he grabbed all the candles he could find to create a romantic mood out on the deck in the backyard.

Over a half hour later, Arizona was feeling much better after a warm shower. The water helped to soothe her aching muscles. She hated to admit it but she was hurting after such a long day at work. Her back ached. Her knee was throbbing. Her pelvic bone hurt from having a one and a half pound baby sitting on it all day. Not to mention the fact that she was simply exhausted – both physically and mentally. Arizona looked for comfort where she could find it and that night she found it in her favorite pair of yoga pants and one of Alex's black tank tops since hers had become too snug to fit anymore without really stretching them out. Arizona fully expected to walk out of the bathroom to find Alex waiting for her in the bedroom much like he was waiting for her in her office that evening. But he wasn't in the bedroom. The bedroom was still dark and it didn't look like he had been upstairs at all. Her curiosity got the best of her and even though she wanted to continue pouting upstairs she went to find Alex instead.

When she descended the stairs, she found that the rest of the house was just as dark as the upstairs. It was so dark and silent that Arizona wondered if Alex was even still at home. She worried that she might have pushed him too far and he might have left to get some space for a little while. Arizona headed to the garage to check and see if his car was there. As she made her way to the garage she noticed the light coming from the backyard. With her curiosity piqued, Arizona changed course to the backyard. She could see through the windows that the deck was covered in candles and Alex was leaning back in the porch swing with his eyes closed.

Arizona was in shock. Her entire backyard had been transformed in the half hour she was in the shower. Arizona gently opened the door to the deck, "What's all this?"

Alex's eyes flew open as he heard Arizona's voice. He got up out of the swing to greet her. "I just wanted to do something to celebrate your first real day back at work."

"Alex, you didn't have to do this."

Alex led Arizona to the swing and helped her sit down, "I wanted to." He kissed her temple as he sat down next to her. "You deserve it."

Alex started to dish out the pizza that was sitting on the table in front of them when Arizona placed her hand on his to stop him, "Thank you. I was a bit of a bitch today and I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"No, I did. I shouldn't have tried to stop you. You don't need me to take care of you."

Arizona nudged Alex with her shoulder, "But I do need you to take care of me. I like you taking care of me…us."

Alex leaned in for a kiss, cradling Arizona's face with his hands. He meant for it to be a soft and simple kiss but it quickly spiraled out of control as Arizona pulled him impossibly closer to her. She used her hands to trap his mouth against hers as she held him against her. They continued making out in the porch swing like teenagers until a loud growl came from one of their stomachs.

Arizona pulled back laughing, "I think you're the one that didn't eat today. Am I right?"

"Maybe," Alex shrugged. He had been too busy watching Arizona to bother to eat.

Arizona opened the pizza box and handed him a slice before grabbing one of her own. "Maybe it's my turn to take care of you."

They enjoyed the peacefulness of the summer night as they ate dinner outside. Summers were beautiful in Seattle. They made dealing with all of the rain and dreariness the other nine months of the year worth it. It was such a clear night that there were even a few stars out in the city sky. It was the perfect night to spend outside. After dinner, Alex went back inside to get a tub of ice cream with two spoons for dessert and a blanket so they could continue to enjoy the weather without being too cold.

Arizona was laying down on the swing with her head in Alex's lap and Alex's hand on her belly. "Mmm," Arizona moaned as she finished another spoonful of chocolatey goodness and reached into the pint to get another spoonful. "We need to enjoy quiet nights like these more. They're going to be rare soon enough."

Alex stole the spoon out of Arizona's fingers and finished her bite for her, "They might not be quiet nights but I can't wait to be able to watch our kid playing out here."

"Me too," Arizona tipped her head back in Alex's lap so that she could see him looking down on her.

Alex couldn't help himself and leaned down to steal another kiss from his girlfriend. Again, Arizona threaded her hands in his hair to trap him against her lips. As much as he loved kissing Arizona, it wasn't the most comfortable position for him hunched over her body.

"Let's go inside," he whispered against her lips.

Arizona didn't have to be told twice. She gingerly got up with the help of Alex and as soon as they had all of the candles blown out they went back into the house and headed straight upstairs.

As soon as they entered the bedroom Arizona pushed Alex onto the bed and straddled him.

Alex ran his hands up and down her back. He loved it when Arizona wore his clothes and seeing her above him in his tank top drove him wild. "We need to be careful," Alex said as he gripped her ass that was sitting on his thighs.

"I don't want to be careful," Arizona defied as she lifted the tank top over her head revealing her sexy pregnant body.

"Arizona," Alex whispered as his hands ran over her sides. "We can't." Alex was saying no but his hands were saying yes while they caressed her boobs. They still hadn't been intimate since the accident but Alex didn't know that Arizona had just been cleared for any and all physical activities including sex.

"We can," Arizona nodded as she played with the hem of Alex's t-shirt. "We go slowly and if it hurts me too much then we stop."

"Painter says this is okay?" Alex lifted his arms so Arizona could pull his shirt off.

Arizona leaned down and kissed Alex softly, "Yes."

Alex gently pulled Arizona down so that she was lying next to him. He wanted to take this very slowly. With the bulk of Arizona's physical injuries being her fractured pelvic bone, having sex was sure to test the limits of her healing. He didn't want to hurt her. Not only was it going to be the first time they had sex after the accident it would also be the first time having sex knowing that she was pregnant. Alex was a doctor and he knew from his medical knowledge that sexual intercourse was not harmful to the baby but that still didn't mean that as a father he understood that.

Alex took his time as he stripped the rest of Arizona's clothes off of her. He wanted to worship her body. He loved the added curves that pregnancy gave her. He found her sexier than ever being pregnant and he wanted to show her just how much she meant to him. Unlike earlier in the day when Arizona got annoyed with being treated with kid gloves, in bed she was enjoying it. She was nervous about having sex with Alex again. She was nervous about the pain. She was nervous about how her body looked. It had been so long since she and Alex had been intimate. Her body was nothing like it was the last time they had sex. She had scars and a few stretch marks were starting to form. She was also nervous about how her body would respond and if it would respond at all. She needed Alex to show her that she was still perfect to him.

After a night of reconnecting in all ways, Arizona fell asleep with Alex's arms wrapped around her. Like many first times, it wasn't a perfect experience for either Alex or Arizona. It was a learning experience for them both. They learned what positions were good for not only pain levels but also for working around the pregnant belly. It was a starting point and they both knew that it would get better as they practiced and after their bodies were reawakened that night – they would definitely be practicing a lot.

**…**

Arizona glanced out the airplane window and latched onto her traveling partner's hand. Normally, she would be latching on because she had an irrational fear of flying but this trip she was holding on because she was excited. It had taken a lot of persuading but she had finally managed to convince Alex that she was healed enough to accompany him on a regularly scheduled trip to Malawi. She had every doctor on her case tell Alex that she was well enough to travel. She had her physical therapist explain ten times that she could work as a doctor in Malawi just as well as she had been doing for the last month in Seattle. Alex accepted their answers but the toughest sell wasn't convincing Alex that she was healed enough to go to Malawi – it was convincing him that she wasn't too pregnant to travel. At just over seven months pregnant, Arizona needed to go to Malawi. She hadn't been to Malawi in almost eight months and she missed it. She knew that she wouldn't be able to go to Africa once she hit thirty weeks and she also knew that she probably wouldn't be able to go to Malawi until the baby was at least three to four months old; at that point, her three year commitment to the grant would be up and she would have missed being able to serve for over one-third of it. After a very extensive check-up with Dr. Tracy, her obstetrician, Arizona was declared perfectly fit for travel. But just because all of her doctors said that it was okay didn't mean that Alex approved. He didn't want to risk something happening to Arizona while they were in Africa. He didn't want her to go into early labor and be stuck in a third world country with limited resources to help his baby survive a premature birth. He was a very overprotective father already and the baby wasn't even born yet. Alex even pulled out the big guns to get Arizona to stop pushing to go to Africa – he called the Colonel. But Alex underestimated how strong Arizona's desire was to go to Malawi and her father's desire to do anything to make his daughter happy; which led to the Colonel telling Alex that he promised to make his daughter happy which led to Arizona going to Africa.

Alex had to admit that while he was concerned about Arizona traveling, he would rather have her in Lilongwe with him than in Seattle alone. It also gave him the perfect opportunity to do what he had wanted since Arizona woke up from the accident – to ask Arizona to marry him. He wanted it to be a full circle moment with asking her to spend her life with him where their relationship first began. He had bought the ring months ago. He bought it after they originally talked about marriage in bed. One day during one of Arizona's PT sessions he and Teddy snuck out to a local jeweler to find the perfect ring. He had no idea what type of ring Arizona would want which is why he brought her best friend with him. That didn't matter because once he saw _the _ring – he knew it was for her. It was an antique ring with a two carat round center stone surrounded by another carat of smaller diamonds. It wasn't too big but it wasn't small. Alex knew that Arizona wouldn't wear it daily because of her job as a doctor; he would get her a simple wedding band for that – but he wanted her to have something that she could show off. Sharing expenses with Arizona for the past two years allowed him to save the majority of his salary and while he put most of it away for their future, he wanted her to have a ring that she deserved. With the ring purchased he just had one more thing to do before he could propose. He had to talk to her father. He had put off talking to Daniel until right before they left for Africa. He was going to ask Arizona to marry him no matter what Daniel said but he was still a nervous man seeking the approval of his future father-in-law. His phone call with Daniel wasn't as scary as he thought it was going to be. Daniel didn't even give him a hard time. He did give him one hell of a Robbins speech about taking care of Arizona but that wasn't anything that Alex hadn't already heard from the man. Daniel knew that Arizona loved Alex and that Alex loved Arizona and that was all that he needed to know.

Alex smiled as Arizona gripped his hand when Lilongwe came into view from the airplane window. Arizona was thrilled to be back in Africa for what would probably be her last if not next to last trip there. Alex knew that if everything went as planned she would have another reason to smile soon enough.

Alex tried his best to act normal when they arrived in Malawi. He didn't plan on proposing until the end of their trip and underestimated just how hard it would be to act like this was just a typical trip to Africa for them. Arizona knew something was going on with her boyfriend. From the moment they landed in Africa, Alex had been acting different. Not in a bad way but just not himself. She kept catching him staring at her and then immediately looking away. She chalked it up to the fact that he was worried about something happening to the baby while they were in Africa and he was trying his best to not be overprotective. She brushed her concerns about Alex aside as she focused on the medicine for what could be her last week in Africa.

Everyone at the hospital was thrilled to see Arizona when they started their first shift of the week. They had been updated about her accident and even though Alex had assured them that she was fine – seeing was believing. Everyone was fawning over her and the baby. She couldn't walk down the hall without running into a nurse or doctor that wanted to talk to her. She had gotten used to the attention and started planning in extra time to visit with the staff during her work day. As they approached their last day in Africa, Arizona noticed that while people were still staring at her, they were now doing it was a sly smile on her face. Clearly, everyone knew something that she didn't.

It was just after lunch time on their last day in Lilongwe and it was finally time for Alex to put his plan into motion. He had debated for weeks about how to propose and in the end he decided that something simple was more appropriate than a grand gesture; it was more them. Thanks to the entire surgical team being in on his plan, he knew exactly where to find Arizona when it was time to do it.

Alex found Arizona leaning against a counter near the surgical board. She was laughing as she talked with a doctor while she was flipping through a patient's chart. Arizona thought she was about to do a bowel resection but instead she was about to get engaged and then attend a going away party in her honor. Alex was pretty sure that she knew about the party but he knew that she had no clue about the diamond ring in his lab coat pocket.

"Hey," Arizona smiled when she saw Alex walking up to her. "I was just talking about you."

Alex smirked and rested his hand on the small of her back, "Oh yeah? What did I do this time?"

"I was just telling Eshe that you think that Levi is an appropriate baby name."

"But it is," Alex argued. He really didn't want to name their baby that but he loved suggesting crazy baby names and pretending to be completely serious to Arizona just to drive her crazy.

"Well we're not naming him after a denim jeans company. Sorry. We want something a little more classic but still fairly unique. Plus, I thought you were on the girl bandwagon?"

"I am but we need to be prepared for both."

Eshe just laughed at the man and offered her own suggestion, "I think Eshe is a good name for a baby girl. It means life. It is perfect."

Alex shared a knowing look with the African doctor as she left the couple alone at the counter.

"So what are you up to right now? Cuz I have a few minutes to kill if you want to take advantage of me?" Arizona latched onto Alex's lab coat pocket causing Alex to tense. She had no idea how close she was to her own engagement ring.

Alex unhooked her fingers from his pocket and tangled their hands together. He couldn't let her hand slip into his pocket accidentally. "Actually, I need to go grab a few supplies. Maybe you could keep me company?"

"Of course."

Alex made small talk with Arizona about her day as he walked them toward the supply closet. The same supply closet that almost one year prior they both thought they were going to die in. Alex was happy that Arizona didn't seem bothered when he opened the door and guided Arizona into the small space that held so many bad memories in it. He wanted to replace those memories with good ones.

"So what do you need?" Arizona glanced up at Alex, fully expecting him to be grabbing items off of the shelves. But instead she saw him staring at her and giving her the same goofy grin that had been on his face the whole week.

"You know it's been almost a year since that day," Alex looked around the small closet. The stock on the shelves was the only thing different from that day almost one year ago.

"Why are you bringing that up?" Arizona visibly stiffened at his words and Alex reached out to comfort her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her so that her rounded stomach was touching his. Arizona's stomach was looking more and more like she had a basketball underneath her shirt and Alex loved it.

Alex let go of her hand and wiped it on his pants. He was getting nervous and his palms were sweating. He had a speech prepared but most of it had flown out of his head and he couldn't remember what he wanted to say. He knew what he wanted to say he just didn't remember the words he had prepared. He just hoped that he didn't sound like too much of a fool.

"You know part of me is grateful for the shooting," Alex started with the only line he remembered from his prepared speech.

Arizona looked shocked. She didn't know why anyone would be grateful for the trauma that they were put through that day. "What? Why would you –?"

"I'm grateful because I just think about what wouldn't have happened if that had just been a normal day for us." Alex reached out and brushed his hand across Arizona's baby bump. "What we might not have if that crazy man hadn't have come into the hospital that day. The shooting forced us to stop tiptoeing around our feelings for each other. Granted, we still spent months after it trying to avoid those feelings but it was the shooting that brought us together. It was when we began. And as scary and terrifying as it was, I can't imagine my life without you."

"Me too," Arizona interrupted and started to lean in for a kiss before Alex pulled away. "Aleeeeeeeeeex," she whined when she went in for another kiss only to be rebuffed again. Her hormones were out of control these days and she did not like being turned down.

"I'm sorry. I just need to get this out," Alex said when he noticed the look of disappointment on Arizona's face when he wouldn't kiss her. "I had this whole thing planned and it sounded good in my head but now that I'm standing here I just…I don't know if it's good enough."

Arizona reached out to caress Alex's arm. "Alex, what's going on?"

Alex stuffed his right hand in his pocket and fumbled for the silver chain that had a ring on it. He wrapped a fist around it as he used his left hand to hold onto Arizona's left hand. Alex let out a deep breath as he locked eyes with Arizona who was staring at him curiously. It was do or die time. "I love you. I love you so much and I cannot wait for this baby to get here. And I know that you and I are it. I know that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you and our baby and all of the other babies we have together. And I just… I really want to make our relationship more official."

Arizona gasped as Alex started to pull his hand out of his pocket. It took her a moment but she knew where his speech was going. They already lived together and were having a baby together. There was only one way to make their relationship more official. She could see his hand shaking as he revealed a fist coming out of his pocket. Arizona herself started shaking as she realized what was about to happen. Alex maneuvered the ring in his fist so that he was holding it with two fingers. Alex watched as Arizona's eyes fell on the shiny diamonds. He gripped the hand he was holding tightly causing her eyes to go back to his face.

Alex took another deep breath in an attempt to control his nerves, "Will you marry me?"

Arizona knew what the next words out of Alex's mouth were going to be but she was still surprised when he finally said them. She knew she should be looking at the man that had just proposed to her but she couldn't help but be distracted by the ring in his fingers. It was gorgeous. It was so shiny and pretty. It was classic and totally her style. Alex did well.

"Arizona?" Alex called to get Arizona's attention. He had asked her a question and the only reaction he had gotten from the woman was a shocked look and her staring at the ring in his hand. He decided to repeat the question in hopes of getting an answer. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes," Arizona flung her arms around Alex's shoulders. "Yes. I love you. Yes," she repeated in his ear so that he couldn't miss her answer.

They were both trembling as they embraced. Alex wrapped his arms tightly around Arizona and lifted her up off of the ground. As soon as he put her back down, Arizona released her grip on her future husband. She wrapped her hands around his neck as they stared at each other, both unable to keep the smiles off of their faces. Arizona pulled Alex down to her level and kissed him. She trailed her tongue along his lips before he opened his mouth and let her in. It wasn't until he felt their baby kick him in the stomach that he was brought back to reality.

"I know that it might not fit," Alex held up the ring on the necklace knowing the tendency for pregnancy to cause swollen fingers. "So I made sure that you'd be able to wear it no matter what."

"It is beautiful," Arizona gushed as Alex tried to slip the ring on her ring finger and while it would have fit if he pushed hard enough it probably wouldn't be able to come off without some lotion. "This baby better be worth the wait for getting to wear that."

"I'm so going to tell her you said that when she's a teenager," Alex laughed and brushed her hair away from her neck as he put the necklace on her.

"I love you," Arizona repeated for what seemed like the fiftieth time since he proposed as she leaned in for another kiss before glancing around the room realizing that Alex had just proposed in a supply closet though a very important supply closet to them. "So I'm guessing you didn't need any supplies?"

"Uhh…no," Alex grinned sheepishly. "But we do have somewhere to be soon."

"Ahh yes, the not so secret going away party."

Alex laughed. He knew Arizona had figured out that a party was going to happen that day. He was just glad it wasn't his proposal that got spoiled. "That would be it."

Arizona tugged on his scrub top, "Do we have time to make out for a bit first?"

Alex latched onto her lips and grabbed her ass as he pulled her as close to him as they could with the baby bump in the way, "We always have time for that."

They were fashionably late for their own going away party but the guests at least pretended to not know why they were late. With Arizona's future visits to the hospital up in the air, the staff wanted to take the time to thank her for everything she had done for them in case she never came back. Although her role in the hospital had changed over time, Arizona and by extension Alex had become valued members of the hospital family. They had also become beloved members of the Lilongwe and Malawi community. Through their work in the villages, almost everyone in the city knew of at least one child that had personally been fixed by Arizona or one of her doctors. She would always be a treasured member of the community.

Everyone in the hospital made an appearance at the party. After lots of traditional Malawian treats, Alex and Arizona left the hospital to head back to the United States. Alex would return at least two more times but Arizona's return was more up in the air. However, she and Alex both agreed that even if they were no longer associated with the Carter-Madison Grant they would still return to Lilongwe and visit their Malawian family – plus they would have a new baby to show off soon.

The one part of the proposal that Alex didn't plan properly was the fact that he proposed only four hours before they had to go to the airport to fly back to Seattle. That left no time for the couple to celebrate their engagement properly. By the time they landed in Seattle, Alex had no more patience for waiting. If Arizona wasn't pregnant he would have taken her on the airplane or in an airport bathroom but she wasn't as flexible as she used to be, especially after the accident.

"Your parents are expecting a call as soon as we get home," Alex said as he put their luggage in the back of his Jeep. "So call them now because as soon as we get home you are all mine."

Arizona laughed at her fiancé as he thrust her cell phone at her. She was just as anxious as he was to get home and get into bed; she just put on a better face about it. Thanks to rush hour traffic on the interstate, Arizona had over forty-five minutes to talk to her parents. That was plenty of time for her mother to gush about the proposal and demand a picture of the ring as soon as possible. Barbara started to talk wedding plans as Alex drove into their driveway but Arizona was able to shut her up as she declared that they had plenty of time to plan because there was no way she was going to be a pregnant bride. Arizona was still trying to say goodbye to her parents when she walked into her home. As soon as the door closed, Alex attached his lips to Arizona's neck causing her to fight back a moan as her mother was talking about her most recent purchases for her grandchild. Arizona quickly informed her parents that they were now home and that she was exhausted and needed to go to sleep. She was sure her parents didn't believe her but she didn't care. She was too focused on Alex's hands that were unbuttoning her jeans.

"What'd your mom have to say?" Alex asked as he continued to suck on her neck.

"Mmph," was all Arizona managed to get out as Alex's hand slipped into her pants.

"Somehow I think she had more to say than that," Alex commented as his lips moved to Arizona's ears.

Arizona had had enough teasing and wanted to take charge. She quickly spun in Alex's arms and pushed him against the nearest wall. She attached her lips to his and left him with a kiss that had him craving more. She pulled away and started to walk upstairs. He was still stunned by the kiss when he heard her call out over her shoulder for him to order some take out because they weren't going to leave the house anytime soon. They had a lot to celebrate that night.

**…**


	25. Chapter 25

A/N: Still moving across the country but I wanted to get a chapter up this week. I only did a rough edit so I hope there aren't too many glaring errors in it. Thanks for all the reviews on the last one and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

When they returned to work three days later the news of the couple's engagement did not spread as quickly as most gossip does at Seattle Grace – Mercy West. A flashy ring on a necklace that dangled almost below Arizona's scrub top was much harder to spot than on the finger for people to immediately notice. Arizona and Alex didn't want to call attention to their change in relationship status. It wasn't until late afternoon that the news was found out by the gossip mongers of the hospital. So much of Alex and Arizona's relationship had been a series of grand announcements due to the accident and pregnancy that they really didn't care to make one for this. They agreed that they would tell people as they asked about the trip but they weren't going to make a big deal of it. To them this was just making their relationship official.

The one person in the hospital that did know what had happened was Teddy since she went to help pick out the ring with Alex. Teddy was ready to jump on Arizona as soon as she got to work. Arizona hadn't been answering her phone even though Teddy knew that they had been back from Africa for days. Teddy was waiting by Arizona's office door bright and early waiting for her to start her shift for the day.

"Let me see it!" Teddy demanded as soon as Arizona turned the corner to head into her office for the day.

"Wow there must be a lack of heart attacks happening in Seattle today," Arizona joked about her friend's over-eagerness as she unlocked her office door. Arizona lifted her necklace to show off the ring as soon as they closed the door. "Not like you haven't seen it before from what I heard. I'm not sure how I feel about you two conspiring together. This could be trouble for me."

"It was for your own good," Teddy examined the ring. It looked even better on Arizona than it did in the store. Teddy plopped on the couch as she watched Arizona get ready for her day. "So tell me how he did it."

Arizona had surgery first thing in the morning so Teddy only got the condensed version of the proposal. Teddy was genuinely happy as she listened to Arizona talk about Alex. Arizona was glowing and not just because she was nearly thirty weeks pregnant. Arizona was happier than Teddy had ever seen her. When Teddy first found out about Alex and Arizona's relationship she was skeptical. She thought that Arizona was just going to get hurt – that she was crazy for choosing Alex to be her first ever boyfriend. If Arizona wanted to switch to men, Teddy could think of a lot better choices out there than Alex Karev. Alex was a notorious bad boy and Arizona had already been hurt badly in the past. Teddy never would have thought that Arizona would be the woman to finally tame Alex.

Alex also had surgery first thing so he didn't have time to see his friends and be harassed about his trip to Africa. After his morning surgery, he was paged to the pit about a suspected case of appendicitis. While Alex was poking the boy's stomach, the boy chose that moment to throw up all over Alex's pants. After Alex confirmed that it was indeed appendicitis he went to the locker room to shower and change before performing the surgery. He was in the process of putting on a fresh scrub top when Cristina saw something interesting on his half-naked body.

"Whoa," Cristina said as she moved closer to him. She pointed to a mark on Alex's neck, "What is that?"

"What?" Alex looked down trying to see what Cristina was talking about but the spot she was pointing to was at a spot that he couldn't see without a mirror.

Cristina poked the bruise, "I had no idea Robbins was that frisky. Impressive."

Alex moved to the mirror so that he could see what Cristina was talking about. He ran his fingers over the small mark near his collar bone before pulling his scrub top over his head. "You have no idea," he winked.

"I thought you guys went to Africa to save the kids? You know she's already pregnant. She's huge. You can't miss that. You can't get her pregnant again until she has the kid, y'know."

"We do save the kids in Africa," Alex retorted. Alex glanced at his watch. He had rounds soon and didn't have time to get into the details. He really wanted to share the news about his engagement and Cristina did bring the trip up so that did follow the guidelines that he and Arizona set up for sharing the news. "We just had some…uh…celebrating to do this trip."

"Celebrating?" Cristina raised her eyebrows. Alex knew that being mysterious would get Cristina going. She loved a good mystery. She was the hospital's version of Jessica Fletcher and since it had been slow at the hospital she needed something to help keep her busy.

Alex sighed as his pager went off. He was a little disappointed he wouldn't have time to lead Cristina on any further. He'd need to just tell her so that he could make it to surgey on time. "We got engaged."

"Hold up," Cristina raised her voice and threw her hand up in Alex's face. "You what?"

"I asked her to marry me. She said yes. We got engaged," Alex held open the door to the lounge and clarified his answer before heading out to scrub in for surgery.

Just as Cristina was about to head off to tell Meredith she got a page about post-op complications with a patient. Alex's big news would still be there to spread after she fixed another heart.

Arizona's first day back was busy. She had to catch up on paperwork, personnel issues and take care of patients. She was so busy that she only had time to grab a quick bite to eat in her office before being paged down to the operating room. A resident briefed her on the case before she entered the scrub room; a ten year old practicing an extreme skateboard trick off the roof of his house had multiple broken bones and internal bleeding.

Arizona wasn't surprised to see Callie in the scrub room preparing for surgery. She knew someone from orthopedics would be in the surgery with her to fix the bones while she worked on the internal injuries.

"Welcome back," Callie smiled as she scrubbed between her fingers when Arizona walked into the room.

Arizona picked up a sponge and ripped the packaging, "Thanks. How's the kid look?"

"It shouldn't be too bad. He's stable so it's just a matter of putting him back together."

"Good," Arizona nodded as she worked on making sure she was sterile. She had been fighting Alex about scaling back her work schedule and she claimed that she was not going to lighten her load but the third trimester was starting to weigh on her. She hated it when Alex was right. She was glad that this appeared to be a relatively easy surgery and afterward she was done for the day.

They continued to make small talk as they prepped for surgery. Both women were grateful that they had been able to remain friends throughout everything that had occurred between them. They were far from being best friends but as the months went by they were able to be closer.

The first hour of surgery was done in relative silence with the two surgeons only speaking to the nurses or to each other about the medicine. They needed to be focused as they assessed the situation of their patient. The x-rays and scans could only show so much of what was actually going on in the body.

Once Arizona had everything under control she decided to stimulate some conversation in the operating room. She liked her operating rooms to be fun and have positive energy and the silence was starting to bring her down. "So did I miss anything good while I was gone?" she asked Callie.

Callie paused to think for a moment. It had been a pretty average week by Seattle Grace – Mercy West standards. "I don't think so. Cristina and Owen are back at it again but that's nothing new. I don't know why they don't just divorce already. It's been years of the same arguments."

"It's got to be hard to love someone so much but not be able to make it work. To want such different things," Arizona frowned under her mask. She hated to hear about any of her friends going through a hard time and she knew that under it all they did truly love each other.

Callie looked up and caught Arizona's eyes. She didn't know if Arizona was referencing their past or not but the statement could relate to them as well. "Yeah, I suppose."

"What about you and Mark?" Arizona asked wanting to move on to a less depressing topic. Mark and Callie had been sleeping together since the start of the new year but they didn't seem to be progressing past being bed buddies. Or if they had they were keeping it quite a secret from the rest of the hospital.

"What about us?" Callie asked. She was under the impression that what she and Mark did was relatively under the radar.

"Why aren't y'all together?" Arizona glanced up at Callie before looking back down at her patient.

Arizona's question seemed to stun Callie into silence. It also caused her to stop all work she was doing to repair the boy's tibia.

Arizona realized she hit a sore spot and tried to smooth out the situation. "You deserve more than just friends with benefits."

Callie nodded and the two went back to working without personal discussion.

It wasn't until Callie leaned over the body cavity to take a sponge from the nurse standing next to Arizona that she noticed the silver necklace and the silver ring dangling from Arizona's neck. She hadn't seen Arizona wear a necklace since they had broken up and she stopped wearing the necklace that she had given her for their first Valentine's Day together.

"What's that?" Callie asked. There was a ring full of diamonds around Arizona's neck. There was only one thing that it could be but she needed to hear Arizona say it.

"What's what?" Arizona asked, glancing around the boy's body to see what Callie was seeing that she didn't.

Callie pointed with a bloody, glove-covered hand to Arizona's neck, "That."

"Oh!" Arizona instinctively reached out to touch the necklace stopping just before she realized that she was in the middle of surgery. She knew Callie was going to find out sometime she just thought she would have a little more time to prepare her for the news. She could tell by Callie's eyes that she knew what it was so she just had to tell her the truth. "Alex and I got engaged last week in Malawi."

Callie was glad that most of her face was covered by a mask. She was happy for Arizona. She really was. Arizona had found someone that made her happy and they were starting a life together. But that didn't mean that it didn't hurt a little. Arizona was getting everything that Callie wanted. Arizona had the fiancé and the baby while Callie was still having sex with her best man friend.

"Congratulations," Callie didn't want to show any vulnerability to Arizona so she immediately congratulated her. "That's great."

"Thanks you, Calliope. That means a lot," Arizona acknowledged honestly. She knew that it must have been hard for Callie to hear that news.

"You guys don't do anything slow do you?" Callie tried to lighten the mood of the room as she referenced their whirlwind romance.

Arizona chuckled, "Doesn't seem like it." In less than a year they had gone from best friends to engaged and in a few more months they'd have a son or a daughter. She raised her eyebrows at her friend across the gurney, "Maybe you should take a page out of our book."

Callie couldn't help but laugh at the fact that her ex-girlfriend was trying to give her dating advice. With her previous relationships with men, George was the only one that she'd ever remained friends with after the break-up. She had always heard that lesbians had a tendency to remain friends and even be close friends after the end of a relationship but she never saw how that was possible. But somehow that was exactly what she and Arizona had been able to do and it made her happy that they were able to stay friends. Arizona Robbins was an amazing person to have as girlfriend and as a friend.

By the time Alex and Arizona left the hospital together that evening everyone knew that they were engaged. After Cristina found out and Arizona announced the engagement to an operating room full of nurses it didn't take long for the rest of the hospital to hear the news through the grapevine. Most people in the hospital offered their congratulations as they had long accepted their relationship over the last few months but there were still a few noisy commenters that never had anything nice to say about them; Alex and Arizona did as they always did – they held hands as they held their heads up high, they'd prove all the naysayers wrong in time.

**…**

Arizona wasn't sure when it happened. But sometime between watching Alex put together the crib and folding freshly laundered baby clothes it did. She blamed the nesting instinct that had taken hold on her as she reached the final month of pregnancy. Alex had never bugged her about it. He wasn't in any rush and he understood her reasons for wanting to wait. Which is why he was surprised when Arizona tracked him down at work one Monday afternoon and told him that she wanted to get married. Immediately. Alex couldn't believe what she was saying. He was pretty sure that Arizona had gone crazy. After thirty-six weeks of pregnancy she had finally lost it.

"What?" Alex asked her to repeat herself as they stood in a busy hallway at work.

Arizona crossed her arms over her ever expanding stomach and repeated herself, "I want to get married."

Alex reached out to play with the ring on Arizona's necklace, "So do I. That's why I asked."

"No, I want to get married now. Let's go to the courthouse."

Yep. Alex had heard her correctly the first time. He looked around the busy hallway. Nurses, doctors and patients were bustling about the hospital. It was not the place to talk about getting married. "Let's go talk about this in your office.

"Alex," Arizona whined as he grabbed her hand and started walking them toward her office. "I don't need to talk about this. I know what I want. Do you not want to marry me anymore?"

Alex could hear the emotion in her voice. She sounded like she really believed that he didn't want to marry her anymore. Her pregnancy hormones were only getting worse and he knew that he needed to tread carefully around his fiancée or she'd be crying soon. "Babe, of course I want to marry you."

"Then let's do it."

Just then Arizona's pager buzzed. The timing couldn't be worse. They needed to finish this conversation.

"Let someone else take it," Alex suggested as she pulled her pager out of her pocket.

Arizona groaned and turned away from where Alex was standing, "You don't want to marry me and now you're telling me I can't do my job?"

Alex just stood as he watched Arizona walk away while muttering choice phrases about him under her breath. He loved her. And he really loved her being pregnant. He loved talking and reading to the baby. He loved feeling her kick his hand. But after thirty-six weeks, he couldn't wait for the baby to be born already. He wanted normal, less crazy Arizona back and if he got to hold a baby in his arms that looked like the love of his life at the same time then that was an added bonus.

It wasn't until their shifts were over that they had time to talk but even then Arizona didn't want to talk anymore. She had said everything she needed to say earlier and Alex just dismissed her – or so she thought. Arizona was still giving him the cold shoulder when they got home. She immediately went upstairs, leaving Alex by himself downstairs. Alex had learned over time that he needed to give Arizona space when she was upset. She didn't like to be bugged or harassed. She liked her alone time to process so he didn't follow her. He gave her a couple of hours to calm down before he finally went in search of her upstairs. When he didn't find her in their bedroom, he knew where she had to be; it was where she spent most of her free time these days.

The door to the nursery was cracked and Alex could see Arizona sitting on the floor as she went through some of the many gifts they had received at their impromptu football game viewing party turned baby shower. The door creaked as Alex pushed it open wider causing Arizona to look up from the stack of clothes on the floor.

"Hey," Alex said softly from the doorway.

Arizona made eye contact with him then turned back to her task at hand. "Hey," she replied softly.

"Can we talk?"

Arizona just shrugged her shoulders as she kept folding. Alex took that as a sign that he could enter the room without getting snapped at.

"That's really cute," Alex commented as he sat behind Arizona who was folding an elephant covered onesie. He couldn't believe that he was referring to pint-sized clothing as cute but when he looked at it all he could see was his baby wearing it and he couldn't wait for that day.

"It's from Eshe. There's a hat she knit around here somewhere too."

Alex let his hands help to relax Arizona. He worked at massaging her lower back in an attempt to make her happy. It had been the only thing he could do during the pregnancy to help relive some of her pain. The two sat in silence for a few more moments as Alex worked at the tension in Arizona's back while she continued to fold the ridiculously cute baby clothes.

"So, I did some thinking," Alex whispered as he kissed Arizona's shoulder and moved his hands from her back to wrap around her stomach and pull her closer to him. "We both have a three day weekend coming up for Labor Day. How about we get married Friday? That gives us time to get the license and wait the mandatory three days. And it also gives us time to fly your parents out here and maybe see if Amber and Lily can come out too."

Arizona turned her head and at him shocked, "What?"

Alex scooted on the floor so that he was facing her. "You said you wanted to get married immediately so I did some research. We couldn't get married today if we wanted to because of the three day waiting period. And as much as I love you and want to make you happy, your father would kill me if he wasn't there to watch his only daughter get married. And I really don't want to die anytime soon."

"Are you sure?" Arizona asked. She had no idea that he had done so much thinking about what she had brought up earlier. She assumed that he was going to tell her that they needed to wait.

Alex raised his eyebrows and caressed her cheek. "Are you sure? You're the one that was so adamant about waiting until after the baby was here."

"I'm sure," Arizona leaned into Alex's caress. "I just don't want to wait anymore. Why put it off when we both know it's going to happen? Life is too short to wait. We've learned that. What if something happens during labor? Hell, what if something happens on the drive to work tomorrow? I don't want something to happen and not be married to you. I already feel like we're married. This is just a piece of paper that says we are. And I could care less about doing a big wedding. I don't need that. I just need you."

"You're really sure?" Alex didn't want Arizona to regret not having the grand wedding that she probably dreamed about when she was a little girl.

Arizona reached out and grabbed Alex's left hand, "I am." Arizona played with his ring finger, "And I really want to put a ring on this finger."

"Okay," Alex leaned in for a kiss. "Let's start making some phone calls."

Arizona grinned and rubbed her belly, "Mommy and Daddy are getting married. What do you think about that?" Arizona instantly felt the baby moving. It felt like he was doing a celebratory dance. She grabbed Alex's hand and positioned it so that he could feel as well.

"She's happy," Alex leaned down to place a kiss where the baby was kicking and got a firm kick on the mouth in response.

"Of course he is. You make us both happy."

"You're telling your parents," Alex informed Arizona as he stood up and held a hand out to help her up. "And make sure you tell them that this was your idea. I'm not getting blamed for this one."

They had a lot to do in a matter of days. They had to get the license. Fly their families into town. Buy wedding rings. Figure out exactly what they were going to do for a wedding – just go to the courthouse or do a small ceremony. Arizona was quickly realizing as she made a list of things that needed to be done that it wasn't as simple as just going to the courthouse at lunch like she wanted but she knew that Alex was right – her father would probably kill Alex if they eloped without family there and she really wanted her baby to have its' father around.

They each spent the rest of the night on their respective cell phones. Surprisingly, Daniel Robbins was pleased to hear about the upcoming nuptials. He was old-fashioned at heart and was happy to know that his grandchild's parents would be married before he or she was born. It was past Lily's bedtime when Alex called his sister but Amber assured him that Lily was going to be thrilled to get to see her favorite aunt and uncle again. By the end of the night all four family members had plane tickets to Seattle with everyone set to arrive in a couple of days and spend the long weekend with the happy couple. Once the family travel plans were set, Alex and Arizona were able to relax and work on the rest of the plans from their laptops while in bed. After a lot of debate, they decided to just go ahead and get married at the courthouse on Friday afternoon. They didn't want to bother with finding a place to get married or someone to marry them. A simple courthouse ceremony and then a celebratory dinner afterward was more than enough for them. They just wanted to be married to each other – they didn't care how or when it happened.

**…**

Once they decided to get married before the long weekend, Arizona was able to finagle the work schedule so that she and Alex would have enough time off to be able to take care of the little things. The most important thing to Arizona was not looking like a whale at her own wedding. One of the reasons why she originally wanted to wait to get married was that she didn't want to be huge in her wedding photos. She didn't want to be that woman that was getting married because she had gotten pregnant. Arizona knew that she was getting married not because she was pregnant but because she loved her fiancé but to strangers it would look like they were getting married because she was knocked up. During an extended lunch break and with the help of Teddy and an unlimited budget she was able to find the perfect dress for her wedding. It was short and flowy. It was classy yet casual. And most importantly, she looked and felt good in it. It was perfect.

During another quick escape from work, Alex and Arizona were able to pick out their wedding rings. With their line of work they both wanted something simple. They wanted something that could be worn under gloves when they were doing procedures and something they didn't mind having to replace if they lost it while in the operating room. They had both heard too many stories from their colleagues about losing and forgetting rings that they had taken off and tied to their scrubs for surgeries. They decided on a pair of matching plain platinum bands with Arizona's being ultra thin compared to the normal thickness of Alex's men's band. Getting the rings really made things real for the pair.

After finishing up all of their tasks, all they had left to do was wait for their guests' arrival. Everyone was going to be staying with them at their house and Arizona was just a little nervous about everyone meeting for the first time.

Amber and Lily were the first to arrive. Lily was thrilled to be back in Seattle. She hadn't seen her uncle since Christmas and Arizona since their visit almost one year earlier. While they video chatted all the time, that couldn't make up for hugs from two of her favorite people. Amber and Alex couldn't keep Lily out of Arizona's arms. They tried convincing both Arizona and Lily that Lily was too big for the thirty-six weeks pregnant woman to be carrying but neither one of them would have any of it.

The only thing that got Lily to leave Arizona's arms was the arrival of Barbara and Daniel Robbins. Lily took a special liking to Daniel and quickly decided that he was her new favorite person. He gave the best hugs and he didn't force her to eat all of the green stuff on her dinner plate like her mother and uncle did. Plus he told the best bedtime stories. Daniel Robbins was just as smitten with the little girl who charmed him with her pigtails and impressive manners.

Everyone got along fabulously as they spent a couple of days together before the wedding. Daniel took the opportunity to turn his playground sketches into reality as he coerced Alex into helping him with the manual labor. While the boys were busy outside, the girls were busy in their own baby-crazy bubble. Barbara didn't waste the opportunity to spoil her future grandchild in person. Arizona was sure that Barbara would have spent her entire bank account at the baby stores if she didn't put a stop to it. Arizona was running out of room in the nursery for all of the things that her mother was buying. Barbara didn't limit herself to just spoiling her new grandbaby, she also made sure that Lily had some cute winter wardrobe additions and the latest and greatest toys to take back home to Iowa with her. For so long Barbara thought she'd never be a grandmother so now that she had young children in her life it was her duty to spoil them rotten.

Arizona and Alex staunchly argued against the tradition of spending the night before the wedding apart. As she just reached thirty-seven weeks, Arizona was considered full-term and the baby could really come at any time; Alex wasn't going to spend a night away from her in case she went into labor. They soon-to-be married couple did, however, agree to have dinner with their respective family members alone.

Alex picked a local burger and brewery for him, Amber and Lily to eat at. It had a kids' play area without being a fast food joint so he was sure that Lily would enjoy it as well. Alex was right and Lily headed off to the play area as soon as her mother said that it was okay.

"I knew I was right about you and Arizona," Amber smiled at her big brother.

"Yeah, things definitely changed after you left last fall," Alex just laughed. He remembered Amber telling him that he shouldn't let Arizona go all those months ago. He couldn't believe that he was actually getting to marry her.

Amber kept her eyes on her daughter in the playground as she continued to talk to her brother. "She looks really good. You can't tell any signs of the accident at all."

"She pushed herself really hard and she's pretty much at one hundred percent again. There are still some small things that she's working on with physical and occupational therapy but she's doing really great especially considering what happened. It's a miracle she even survived."

"So, you ready to be a husband and a dad?"

Alex's smile took over his whole body, "I can't wait. I've felt like a husband for the last nine months so that's not a big deal. But the baby? I think I'm more anxious than Arizona is at this point for her to just get here. I just want to hold her already."

"Or him," Lily emphasized. She agreed with Arizona that it was going to be a boy. The way Arizona was carrying was typical for a boy. "You're going to be great. You're so great with Lily."

Alex looked over to see Lily going down the slide, "She's a good kid. How are things going at home?"

"Okay," Amber shrugged. "Lots of work. I've been thinking a lot about looking into starting at the community college or something if I can get a scholarship. Lily can start pre-school soon so I can go to school while she's in school."

"Really? I think that's a great idea. What do you want to study?"

"I was thinking like medical assistant or something like that. I know I'm not smart enough to be a doctor like you but I could do something, right?"

Alex reached out and put his hand on his sister's, "You can do whatever you want. You'd be a great medical assistant but I think you should look higher than that."

"Alex," Amber rolled her eyes. "I have a two and a half year old. I have to work and go to school at the same time. I can't aim for the stars in my position."

The waiter appeared with their food so Alex wrapped up the conversation, not wanting to talk about that in front of Lily. "I'm just saying that you're smart. Don't underestimate yourself."

Across town, Arizona and her parents went to a more upscale restaurant to satisfy Arizona's craving of Italian food. It was the first time since they arrived that they were able to be alone with their daughter and as much as they enjoyed the Karev family, they were grateful for the time with Arizona.

After a quiet dinner where the conversation primarily revolved around the baby, Daniel finally got the nerve to say what he wanted to say. "You can still back out if you want to," Daniel informed his daughter as he sipped on his glass of wine. He liked Alex but he wanted to make sure that Arizona was positive about her decision. He didn't want her to feel like she had to do this just because she was pregnant.

Arizona nearly spit out the sip of water she had just taken. "Are you serious?" She couldn't believe that her father was questioning her about her marriage the night before it was supposed to happen. She looked to her mom to see if he was serious or not but her mother just shrugged her shoulders.

"This is just all so fast. It hasn't even been a year since you two got together. I just want you to be sure because I only want to go to have to go to one of your weddings in my life."

"Dad, I only plan on getting married once. Tomorrow," Arizona said sternly. She should have known her father wasn't as happy for her as he initially seemed.

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know," Daniel had gotten his answer and was ready to let the topic drop. "I just want you happy."

Barbara felt the need to cheer up the mood at the table. She never could stand to have any tension in the family plus there was something that they had wanted to talk to Arizona about since they arrived. She wasn't sure that this would improve the mood but it needed to be put out there. "So, Zona, your father and I have been doing a lot of thinking."

"Uh huh," Arizona mumbled as she sipped on her water. She had no idea what her mother was about to say but by the way her mother was looking at her she knew it was probably nothing she could prepare herself for.

"We're thrilled about all of the upcoming changes in your life. _Thrilled_," she emphasized. "But Seattle is so far away from DC."

Arizona thought she could sense where this conversation was going so she needed to interrupt. "Mom, our jobs are here. Very good jobs. We're not moving."

"I didn't say that, dear. It's your father and I that were thinking about moving to Seattle."

Arizona's mouth dropped open. She loved her parents and she did wish that she could see them more than a couple of times a year but she wasn't sure she could handle living in the same city as them. Plus her parents' lives were in DC. Almost all of her extended family lived in the area. And Timothy was buried at Arlington. They couldn't leave him.

"Arizona, you can shut your mouth now," Daniel ordered. "What your mother meant to say is that we're thinking about buying a vacation house here. Not to move here permanently. Obviously, we're going to want to visit a lot more often now and we want someplace that can be our own so we're not invading your space all the time. Someplace that we can take our grandbaby when his parents need a break."

Arizona was shocked and stunned into silence. She didn't know what to say. She knew her parents had money saved away but she never imagined they'd use it to buy a second home in the city that she was living in.

"Would you be okay with that?" Barbara asked hopefully. As much as she and Daniel both wanted to do this, she knew that they wouldn't do it without their daughter's permission.

Arizona nodded, "Uh yeah. I guess." She couldn't exactly tell them no and it did sound like a decent idea. She knew her parents would be wanting to spend more time in Seattle and to have them in Seattle and not living in her guest room for weeks on end would be great.

"Great," Barbara smiled. "Because it's a buyers' market and there are several good places near you."

"All are at least a half mile away," Daniel interrupted and winked at his daughter.

"This is going to be great," Barbara practically bounced in her seat as dessert was served. Her enthusiasm was infectious and both Arizona and Daniel had long forgotten the earlier conversation with Daniel wanting to make sure of Arizona's marriage desires.

After their respective dinners, Alex and Arizona were more than grateful to retire to their bedroom for the night. They loved their families but they wanted some time away from the crazy and to enjoy this special time in their lives. They spent the night catching each other up on their dinners. Arizona was surprised how supportive Alex was about her parents buying a house in Seattle. She didn't expect him to be so happy about his in-laws moving to their town but Alex had never really had family in his life so he wanted to make sure that his child got to have what he didn't have. While they both agreed that they already felt married and the wedding was more about it being legal, they both fell asleep anxious about the day ahead.

**…**


	26. Chapter 26

A/N: Thanks to everyone who is still reading! I appreciate everyone who is reading and those that are reviewing. I wish I had time to respond to everyone but I figure you'd rather have a new chapter than review replies. I hope y'all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

When Alex woke up the next morning he was all alone. He had a fitful night of sleep which resulted in him sleeping-in past eight. The entire house had been awake and bustling by the time he made his way downstairs to find some breakfast. Alex was surprised to find the house empty when he walked into the kitchen. He expected there to be a lot of activity on the morning before a wedding but instead it was quiet. He must have slept through all of the action. Alex could hear laughter coming from outside so he decided to investigate. He found Daniel pushing Lily on the swings of the newly built playground in the backyard.

Lily noticed her uncle had walked out onto the deck and yelled for him to join them. "Uncle Alex! Come swing me!" Lily demanded.

Alex knew he should reprimand her for her tone when talking to an adult and for not saying please but she was just too cute when she got serious and pouty. Alex went back inside to grab his shoes and made it back outside just as Lily was coming to find him. He picked her up and lifted her on his hip as he made his way to the playground.

"We decided we needed to test it out since the concrete is set," Daniel explained as Lily scrambled down Alex's leg and ran back to the miniature climbing wall to continue playing.

Alex followed Lily as she made her way back to the swings and ran his hand over the wooden playground. "It looks good."

"Lily approves," Daniel smiled as he watched her legs stretch out as Alex pushed her higher. "Right, Lil?"

Lily nodded her approval as Alex kept pushing – making sure to give in to her demands to go higher without letting her get too high. The last thing he needed on his wedding day was having to take Lily to the hospital for a broken bone from falling out of the swing. "Where is everyone else?"

"You just missed them. Teddy came by and picked them up. Apparently they are going to the spa for massages for a few hours. They'll be back by noon."

Alex nodded and focused on playing with Lily. After another minute she was tired of swinging and wanted to go play in the sand so the men moved to the sandbox to keep an eye on her.

Daniel clapped his hand on Alex's shoulder as they watched the little girl play, "I think this is when I'm supposed to give you some sort of fatherly chat or something like that. I think we're past the point of me trying to scare you."

Alex glanced over at Daniel with a curious eye and waited to hear what his future father-in-law had to say.

"Arizona takes after me more than she does her mother so I think I know a little about what I'm talking about. You've lived with her long enough to know all of this but I'm going to tell you anyway. She always thinks she's right. She's hard-headed and more stubborn than a mule. On some days she's going to push you away but you've got to be more stubborn than her and not let her do that. She's a tough cookie. I raised her that way." Daniel paused for a moment before continuing, "I don't like to think of her as a possession – especially because she has always been so very independent even as a baby. But today, she's all yours. It's your responsibility to keep her happy. And if you don't – well, I don't need to say it," Daniel spoke softly but Alex knew that he meant every word including the words he didn't say about what would happen if he didn't keep Arizona happy.

Alex knew that Daniel wasn't expecting a response. He simply nodded his head at the end of the speech. He could tell that Daniel was getting emotional about the day by the way he watched Lily play in the sandbox. Alex knew that seeing his daughter getting married had to be bittersweet for him. She was no longer his little girl. She was Alex's girl and together they were having a baby of their own. Daniel cleared his throat and attempted to keep the tears at bay. He needed a good dose of toddler loving to brighten his spirits for the day so he joined Lily in the sandbox and helped her work on moving the sand around. Not to be left out of the party Alex joined in on the fun in the sandbox.

A couple of hours later, the girls returned home from a morning of massages to find the men working on giving Lily a bath. She was a mess after playing outside all morning and needed a good wash to get her ready for the wedding. Alex figured taking on bath duties would be good practice for the future. He quickly discovered that he was grateful that his baby wouldn't be as active for quite awhile; he had time to work on his skill at staying dry while bathing a baby because so far he was failing miserably.

"Good thing I needed a shower anyway, Lily," Alex told the giggling toddler in the tub. Lily quickly went back to work filling up the cup she was playing with while Daniel rinsed the rest of shampoo out of her hair.

All four women found themselves trying to stifle their giggles at the men from the doorway as they watched Lily dump another cup full of water over Alex's head. They didn't do a good job of keeping quiet and the men's eyes quickly found the women standing in the doorway.

"This is the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. Dad, you have bubbles in your hair and Alex… I think you're wetter than Lily," Arizona laughed as she leaned against the door.

Amber decided to take pity on the boys and took control of bath time. Daniel, Barbara and Teddy left as Arizona helped dry Alex off after his impromptu shower.

"Happy wedding day," Arizona kissed her soon to be husband as she wrapped a towel around his shoulders.

"Mmm," Alex moaned. "Happy wedding day. How was your massage?"

"Heavenly. Amazing."

"Good. You deserve it after carrying around six pounds of baby all day, every day for all these months."

Arizona wrapped her hands around Alex's waist and tugged him closer, "So what have you guys been up to? Besides having a toddler give you a bath?"

"That has been the highlight so far but I'm thinking my day is going to get better," Alex said as he leaned in for another kiss.

Just as their lips touched, Lily burst out of the bathroom with Amber hot on her heels. Arizona and Alex watched as Amber chased a naked toddler down the hall and into their bedroom.

"Guess we're going to have to get used to being interrupted," Alex acknowledged as he tried to kiss Arizona again.

"Arizona, come on – you need to start getting ready," Teddy called from the master bedroom.

Alex sighed and hung his head as he was interrupted yet again. He gave up on getting another kiss from Arizona before they said I do. "Go on. I don't want to get in trouble for keeping you."

Arizona was just as frustrated as Alex was about the interruptions and ignored Teddy's repeated calls for her as she pulled Alex in for a steaming kiss. "Next time, we'll be married," she whispered before turning around and going to get ready for the wedding.

**…**

With the girls busy with getting ready, the boys were once again relegated to keeping Lily entertained. She was busy throwing a party for her stuffed animals. Alex listened in as she gave the bears voices and babbled on about the party. Alex didn't think he could be surprised by what came out of Lily's mouth. The things that toddlers said were always good for a laugh but that day Lily was able to really shock Alex.

"What do you want to read before naptime, Lily? Goodnight moon?" Alex suggested as he tucked Lily into her bed.

Lily hugged her stuffed Elmo closer to her and pouted, "I want Grandpa to read story."

Alex was taken aback. He knew that Lily must have been asking for Daniel but he'd never heard her call him grandpa before. They'd only even known each other for a few days. Alex tried to convince Lily to let him read but Amber didn't want any of it and was about to really let Alex know her feelings on the matter. Alex didn't want to deal with a cranky toddler so he went and got Daniel to read to her.

Once Daniel finished his second reading of Goodnight Moon, Lily had finally fallen asleep. The two tiptoed out of the room and gently closed the door. They hoped that Lily would stay asleep until just before it was time to go to the courthouse.

Alex knew that Daniel would want to start getting ready soon so he didn't wait to bring up what Lily had said before her nap.

"Lily called you grandpa," Alex looked up at Daniel curiously as they walked down the hallway. "When I was putting her to bed she said she wanted her grandpa to read to her."

Daniel didn't look surprised at what Alex told him. "That's something that we – Amber, Barbara and I – talked about this morning while you and Arizona slept in."

"And what did you talk about?" Alex was protective of his family and wanted to know exactly what the Robbins' were talking to his sister about. He knew Barbara and Daniel were good people but this was still his baby sister and his niece that he needed to protect from any further pain in their lives.

"Look Alex. Let's sit," Daniel motioned for them to move to the living room. Once they were settled on the couch Daniel picked up where he left off. "Today you're becoming a part of the Robbins family. And that makes your sister a Robbins too. Barbara and I know that you and Amber got a little shortchanged in the parent department. And Lily has no grandparents thanks to her deadbeat sperm donor. Barbara and I just made sure that Amber knew that she and Lily are a part of our family now too. And we would love to be able to spoil Lily like she deserves. I hope we didn't overstep any boundaries."

Alex was a little taken aback. He had severely underestimated the kindness of the Robbins family. Daniel Robbins never failed to make him speechless. "Uh," Alex fumbled for the right words to convey how he felt about this generosity. "No. Thank you. I mean, yeah, our parents weren't exactly the best. So, yeah… what did Amber say about all of this?"

"There wasn't a whole lot of talking. You know Barbara, she had Amber fighting to breathe as she had her in a bear hug. There were a lot of smiles though. And then she asked Lily if she was okay with us being her grandma and grandpa so we took that as a sign that she was okay with it. Are you sure you're okay with it?"

"Yeah. Definitely," Alex leaned over and gave Daniel an awkward hug and pat on the back. It meant so much to him that Arizona's family was so accepting of his own. Most parents of his former love interests tended to look down on him for being raised in and out of the foster care system; his criminal record also usually sealed the deal for parents that he was trouble for their daughters. "Thank you Dan. This really means a lot."

"The pleasure is all ours. Amber is a fine young lady. You did a good job raising her," Daniel patted Alex's back. Over the last few days he had spent a lot of time with Amber who had a lot to say about her big brother and how much he did to make sure that her childhood was better than his own. "Now, we have a wedding to get to at fourteen hundred hours so we better get ready. Can't have the girls waiting on us now can we?"

"We'd never hear the end of it if that happened," Alex laughed as they made their way to their respective rooms.

Alex took a deep, calming breath as he started shaving. He wasn't nervous, he was anxious. He couldn't wait to be able to call Arizona his wife. He had never been more certain about anything. His wedding to Izzie might have been the big church wedding but that was something that was pushed on him in a moment of fear of death. That wedding was nothing like what he felt to be marrying Arizona. As he slipped on his simple black suit he had no doubts about her and about their future. He couldn't wait to put another ring on her finger and wear one on his. He knew that this would be one of the best days of his life.

**…**

A courthouse wedding is a simple affair. After everyone was dressed, they all piled into two cars and drove the few miles into downtown Seattle. The waiting room was filled with other people waiting to get married. Some people were in full blown tuxedos and poofy wedding dresses while others looked like they had just come from the movies. Most people only brought their necessary two witnesses with them so the Robbins and Karev brood took up a good amount of space in the waiting room. They would have been even more but Cristina and Meredith had to work and couldn't attend their friend's nuptials. Their appointment was for two in the afternoon but it was almost two thirty and they still hadn't been called back into the judge's chambers. As they waited, Alex fumbled nervously with the rings in his pocket while Arizona was busy chatting animatedly with Teddy.

"Arizona Robbins and Alexander Karev?" The court clerk called from the doorway and broke up all the different conversations going on in the waiting room.

Upon hearing their names called the members of their party stood and made their way into the judge's chambers. Alex hung back as he helped Arizona up from her chair.

"You ready to do this?" Arizona whispered as Alex wrapped his arm around her waist.

Alex smiled, "More than ready."

The judge greeted them once everyone had made their way into the room. The first part of the process was just a bunch of formal questions for Alex and Arizona to ensure that they understood what they were about to do. Once all of the formalities were out of the way, the judge could easily sign the marriage certificate and send them on their way or he could perform an actual ceremony. They opted for the ceremony. Alex and Arizona linked hands as the judge began. If someone asked them later what the judge actually said during the ceremony neither one would be able to tell them. They weren't focused on his words; they were focused on each other. They couldn't keep the goofy smiles off their faces as they tried to listen to what the judge was saying. They were sure he said something about love and commitment but the only time they really knew what he was saying was when he was asking them to repeat after him. After repeating their vows to each other, the moment came that both Alex and Arizona had been waiting for – not the kiss but the rings. The rings were the symbol of commitment that they both couldn't wait to wear. Rings were something so simple but they meant so much. They had even bought two rings for Arizona so that she would be able to wear one right away – one large enough to fit over her pregnancy-swollen fingers and one in her normal size. Once rings were exchanged the judge pronounced them husband and wife, Alex wasted no time in kissing his new wife. He kept it fairly chaste considering they were being watched by Arizona's father. He had the rest of his life to kiss her so there was no rush. However, there was a rush at the courthouse. They had a lot of people to marry throughout the day so after the short ceremony was over, they were quickly ushered from the room after the judge signed the marriage certificate.

Knowing that the couple needed their privacy, the family members loaded into one car and let Arizona and Alex drive alone to the restaurant where they were going to have a celebratory meal.

"Baby's happy," Arizona grinned as Alex held open her car door for her and helped her get into the seat. At thirty-seven weeks pregnant it was getting difficult to get into Alex's SUV without a helping hand. "He's kicking up a storm."

Alex let his hands linger on Arizona's belly after helping her in. "She's not the only one that's happy," Alex leaned in for a much less chaste kiss than the one in the judge's chambers.

They made out in the parking lot for a few minutes until Arizona remembered why they were in the car in the first place. "We should probably go before my dad calls the cops thinking we must have been in a car accident."

"We've got plenty of time for this later," Alex placed one last kiss on Arizona's lips before closing the passenger side door and getting into his own seat.

Fifteen minutes later they arrived only ten minutes after their families did at the restaurant. No one said anything but from the looks on their faces they knew exactly what the couple had been up to before their arrival. Dinner was a festive affair with everyone thrilled with the day's events. Alex could tell that the excitement had taken a toll on his new wife. The fatigue of pregnancy was finally starting to catch up to Arizona and she was known to take at least one nap a day in her office for the last few weeks. Just as Arizona suggested they go home, Alex was able to give her one last surprise.

"We're not going home," Alex informed her as he watched her finish off the slice of cake on her plate.

"We're not?" Arizona asked with her mouth full of cake. "But I'm exhausted."

Alex used his finger to wipe some stray frosting off the side of her lip and sucked it into his own mouth. "We're not. We're going away for the weekend. We don't have to be back at work until Tuesday so I'm going to get you out of town for a few days."

"But what about everyone?" Arizona glanced to the table full of people that had come to town specifically to spend time with them.

"Don't argue, Zona," Barbara instructed. "This is the last time you two will be alone for a long time. We can all take care of ourselves. This gives your father and me a chance to spend some quality time with Amber and Lily."

Arizona started to protest again. She felt like she was being a bad hostess by leaving her guests in her own home for days without her. "But – ."

"Arizona, stop," Daniel said firmly, leaving no room for argument.

"Okay," Arizona retreated. She wasn't going to win this battle so it was useless to try to fight it.

"Okay," Daniel stood up and motioned for his daughter to hug him. "Time for you two to get on the road." Daniel wrapped his arms as best he could around his daughter. "I love you. We'll see you Monday night before we fly out."

"Love you too, Dad," she mumbled into his shoulder.

After he let go of his daughter and she went to embrace the rest of the wedding party, it was time for one last talk with his new son-in-law. He held out his hand for Alex to shake and when Alex latched on, he pulled Alex into a hug. "You take care of her.'

"I will," Alex reassured Daniel yet again.

It took another ten minutes before Alex and Arizona were able to escape their family and get into the car.

"So where are we going?" Arizona asked curiously as she watched Alex drive them northbound onto the interstate.

Alex reached out and linked their fingers together. He could feel Arizona's wedding band hit his skin and it made him smile. "I'm finally taking you on a very belated Valentine's Day trip."

"You mean?" Arizona questioned. They were supposed to go out of town on Valentine's Day but they never made it because of her accident.

"Yeah. We were supposed to go up to Victoria that weekend. But because of the baby, I don't want to be in Canada just in case so you're going to have to settle for the San Juan Islands instead. You and me and a cottage overlooking the water."

"Sounds perfect," Arizona yawned as she tried to fight sleep.

"Take a nap," Alex released her hand and patted it. "It's going to be a few hours before we get there."

"But I want to keep you company."

"I plan on taking you straight to bed when we get there and _not_ for sleep so you need to rest up now," Alex wiggled his eyebrows at his wife who was giggling.

Arizona didn't bother protesting again and in less than five minutes Alex could hear light snores coming from her mouth as she fell asleep with her head against the window.

Four hours later, Arizona woke up when she felt Alex open her car door and unbuckle her seatbelt. Three days in the San Juans were just what they needed. Ever since the accident they hadn't had any time to just be together and relax For the first few months they had been so focused on her recovery and in the last few months they had been focusing on the baby. This time was just for them to enjoy being together and married before the birth of their child that would change everything.

**…**

After three days in a love nest, as Arizona called it, it was time to get back to reality. Once they returned to Seattle they had to say goodbye to their family and return to work. Everyone at work knew that they had gotten married. They tried to keep the wedding somewhat quiet due to their desires to keep some things in their lives private. But since Cristina and Meredith, who couldn't make it to the ceremony due to work, knew that the wedding was happening – it didn't stay quiet for long.

By lunchtime Arizona was sick of people congratulating her. She was grateful that people cared about her but she just wanted to be able to do her job without having every nurse and doctor stop her and give her marriage advice. That and dealing with being back at work after a few days off had her more than ready for lunch with her friends.

"You don't look happy for someone that just got married," Cristina commented as the sullen woman joined the lunch table.

"I have a seven pound baby sitting on my bladder all day. And Braxton-Hicks contractions. You would look like this too," Arizona sighed as she rubbed a spot on her lower belly that had just received a sharp kick.

"No thanks," Cristina mumbled into her drink. Everyone knew that pregnancy and motherhood were not for the Korean woman.

"How much longer are you planning on working?" Callie asked. She couldn't believe Arizona was still working that close to her due date.

Arizona twirled a piece of spaghetti onto her fork, "I don't have plans to stop anytime soon."

Alex cleared his throat as he arrived at the lunch table and heard his wife's comments. "I thought we discussed this being your last week."

"No, you discussed that," Arizona pointed her fork at Alex. "I said I wanted to work until I went into labor. There's no point to just twiddling my thumbs at home. I've done enough of that this year."

"And getting married was a good idea for you two?" Cristina snarked at the two doctors that hadn't been married a week but we're already fighting.

"Shut up," Alex and Arizona chorused together.

"We'll just see what the OB says at your appointment today," Alex spoke. He could tell she was getting more uncomfortable by the day and knew that Arizona would be better off if she was at least not on her feet all day.

Arizona wasn't in the mood to get into it with Alex again, especially in front of their friends so she let the topic go. She would wait until their doctor's appointment and plan her argument based on what she had to say. Arizona spent the rest of her lunch conversing with Teddy and Callie about their love lives. She knew that talking with Alex would only lead to another argument about her work schedule. While they might not have been talking they still made sure that they were touching as Alex held Arizona's hand as it rested on his leg.

Much to Alex's dismay, Arizona's obstetrician sided with her about working. She did say that Arizona should stay out of surgeries longer than two hours but otherwise she was perfectly fine to keep working. She wasn't dilated at all yet and while the baby had started to drop, he or she probably wouldn't come before their due date. Plus, all the walking might encourage the baby to come out sooner.

Alex begrudgingly agreed to let the subject of her working drop as long as she followed her doctor's orders and didn't do surgeries longer than two hours as well as took plenty of breaks throughout the day.

**…**

With about two weeks to go before the baby was born, Alex only had one thing that he wanted to take care of before he became a father. It was something he had wanted to do for awhile but had just slipped his mind in the aftermath of Arizona's accident but with the upcoming birth of his child he wanted to take care of it as soon as possible. He started the process months ago and finally got word that all of the documents were finally ready.

He wasn't sure how Arizona would take what he wanted to do. He was worried that she would tell him not to do it or that she wouldn't understand. But in the end all she wanted was to make sure that he was sure of his decision. She wanted him to know that she didn't need him to do this but Alex made it clear that it was something that he wanted and needed to do for himself. Once he had Arizona's approval he got the ball rolling on the next step in his plan.

After exchanging a few e-mails, Alex took a day off and drove south towards Portland. Four hours and a lot of traffic later he found himself waiting nervously at a Starbucks a few blocks away from Providence Portland Medical Center. He ordered a coffee even though he didn't need the caffeine – his hands were already shaking as he waited. He was nervous about seeing his ex-wife again. The last time he saw her, she was trying to stick her tongue down his throat at Joe's. From what Meredith had told him, Izzie had no idea about the changes in his life. Meredith admitted that she purposefully left those details out of her semi-regular e-mails with Izzie. It wasn't any of her business and if she was going to move on from Alex, she didn't need to be thinking about him at all.

Alex went through two cups of coffee before he saw a familiar, but not his favorite, head of blonde hair walk into the coffee shop. His ex-wife was over a half hour late for their meeting.

"Sorry, sorry," Izzie repeated as she took a seat opposite of Alex. "I had to take care of a preemie that just didn't want to breathe on her own."

"That's okay," Alex assured her. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh no. I can't do caffeine this late in the day anymore," Izzie smiled brightly. She could sense the nerves coming from Alex and wanted to put him at ease but her smile didn't seem to do the trick. She decided to just get on with it. She was curious as to why he wanted to meet after getting an e-mail from him out of the blue. Meredith stopped mentioning Alex in her e-mails so she had no idea what he had been up to for the past year. Izzie figured that Alex told Meredith to stop talking about him after she kissed him in Joe's. "So what brings you to Portland?"

Alex fiddled with his wedding ring under the table. He didn't know how to say this. There was no right way to bring this up. Alex pulled two folders of papers from his bag and placed them on the table. "I…uh. I don't know how to say this."

"Just say it, Alex."

Alex put his hand on the blue folder, "These papers are the paperwork to destroy the embryos… our embryos." Alex then pointed to the red folder, "And those terminate my legal and parental rights to the embryos."

"What?" Izzie yelled, startling the customers nearby.

"I've signed both sets. It's up to you which ones you want to sign. Legally, the embryos are both of ours which means that you can't use them without my legal permission. I know that you want kids someday and I don't want to take that away from you but I don't want to be the father of your kids."

"So what? You're just going to be like your dad and run away?" Izzie knew that it was a low blow but she was hurt that Alex wanted to turn his back on the embryos that they created together. She worked with babies everyday and part of her always wondered what those embryos could turn into if she would just undergo a procedure to implant them in her uterus. Alex was shattering that dream with these papers.

"No. It's not like that. You deserve to have kids with someone that loves you. Using my sperm doesn't make me a father of those kids. Whoever you choose to have these kids with, they'll be the father. They'll be the ones at the ultrasounds and the birth and for all the firsts. Or if you want to do it alone then you can, and I think you'd be great at it, but I don't want a kid that I've never met showing up on my doorstep in eighteen years calling me daddy. Sperm does not make me a father."

"What if I want you to be the father?" Izzie glanced up at Alex with sad eyes. With these papers, the last ties they had together would be severed.

Alex looked at her sternly, "Then you can't use the embryos. I have legal rights to stop you if you don't sign these papers that terminate my rights. I'll petition the courts to have the embryos destroyed."

This was not the conversation that Izzie expected to have that afternoon. Part of her hoped that Alex was coming to see her because he wanted to start again or even that he had a case he needed help with – anything but this. "Where is this even coming from? This is so out of the blue."

Alex had been keeping his left hand under the table so that Izzie couldn't see his wedding ring. He didn't want to bring Arizona into this conversation and he knew that Izzie would blame her if she knew he had re-married. This conversation had nothing to do with Arizona. It was about his past with Izzie and he didn't want Izzie using his new wife as a weapon against him. "I'm moving on with my life and I need closure on this issue. These embryos weren't made out of love. Yes, I loved you but it wasn't a decision that came from our love. I had a sperm cup shoved at me by the Chief because they thought you were dying. I didn't have a choice. It was my sperm or you didn't get the opportunity to have kids in the future and I wasn't going to do that to you. And now you have that opportunity either by yourself or with someone else but not with me."

"I… uh. I need to think about all of this," Izzie was flustered. She needed time to think and couldn't do that with Alex sitting across from her. She grabbed the packets of paperwork and stood up, "I'll have a lawyer look at these. I'll let you know what I decide."

Alex finished his coffee and started the trek back to Seattle. He felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off of his shoulders. He didn't want to deny Izzie the chance to have children; he just didn't want to be their father. He knew that many people, including Arizona, didn't really understand his reasons but they didn't grow up with an absentee and deadbeat father. He didn't want any children of his to grow up like that and if that meant that he signed away his parental rights and let his genetic offspring grow up calling someone else daddy then that was the way it was going to be.

By the time Alex made it back to Seattle, Arizona appeared to be fast asleep in bed. Even though they had been fighting over her working too much lately, it still always made his heart beat faster knowing that he got to crawl into bed with her every night.

"How'd it go?" Arizona asked sleepily as she felt the bed dip and Alex's arms wrap around her body. Sleep had been hard to come by lately with the frequent trips to go to the bathroom during the night and the kicking to her ribs so she while she was exhausted she was still awake in bed.

"It went," Alex kissed her neck and breathed in her scent. The tension in his body instantly disappeared when he felt the baby kicking away. "How's Bear tonight? Going to come out soon?"

"I wish but you know first pregnancies almost always go late," Arizona sighed as she continued to try to sleep.

Alex was almost asleep when a kick actually pushed his hand off of Arizona's stomach as he held her.

"Ugh," Arizona moaned and reached back behind her to slap at Alex wherever she could reach him. "Do something. Please. I need sleep."

Alex leaned up and pressed a kiss to Arizona's cheek before scooting down the bed to rest his head on Arizona's belly. Over the last couple of months he had learned a few tricks to getting the baby to calm down when it was bedtime. "Hey Bear. I know that you're nice and comfortable in there and I get that you don't know what time of day it is but it's bedtime and Mommy needs sleep or else she gets very cranky and Cranky Mommy is not very nice to Daddy."

Arizona groaned as the baby continued to dance in her uterus.

Alex grabbed a book off the bedside table and turned on the lamp. "Okay, how about one story?"

By the time he finished with one of the short stories in the book of tales about Winnie the Pooh he could tell that the baby had started to calm down for the night.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Arizona whispered as Alex moved back up so that he was spooning her. Arizona shifted her body back closer to Alex's, "Now keep rubbing because I can feel him falling asleep and I really want to get more than four hours of sleep tonight."

Alex moved his hands back down to her stomach and went back to rubbing circles on her belly. This was what he wanted Izzie to have. He wanted her to have someone she loved to help calm her baby down at night and talk to the baby. Someone that could give her a future. She deserved to have kids with a man that would be a real father to their children. The kids deserved a real father. He just hoped that he could trust Izzie to do the right thing with the embryos.

**…**


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: I just wanted to give a heads up so that I don't disappoint my lovely readers - but this story is wrapping up soon. It has at least one but maybe two chapters left. Here's the chapter that most people have been waiting for! I hope that I could do it justice for y'all and let me know what you think. Thanks and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

Arizona was anxious as her due date came with no sign of a baby coming out anytime soon. At her appointment on her due date she wasn't even dilated a fraction of a centimeter. This baby was proving to be just as stubborn as its' mother – one of the less desirable Robbins traits depending on who was asked. Arizona had long passed the point of being uncomfortable and Braxton-Hicks contractions made work difficult so she finally caved and started her maternity leave. She felt like she was back in the early days of her recovery from her accident. She could barely get off the couch without being out of breath because of the effort it took to move. The pain was in her lower back and not her legs but she was still in pain. While her body was fully healed from the accident, the bones were weaker and hurt more with the weight of a baby on them constantly. Her days were back to being spent on the couch, trying to be as comfortable as possible while watching crappy daytime television and eating junk food. She felt like a beached whale and couldn't wait to get the baby out of her uterus.

It was on the couch, curled up in a blanket while trying to read a book on baby sleep schedules that Alex found her when he came home from work late one night. He was trying to work as many hours as possible before the baby was born so that he could have more time off afterward.

"Hello," Alex bellowed as he walked into the house. He knew he'd find Arizona right where he left her when he had come home for lunch earlier in the day. He leaned over the back of the couch to give Arizona a kiss hello. Arizona deliberately turned her head before he could get to her lips. "Burned," Alex muttered loud enough for Arizona to hear him as he walked around the couch. "I guess I don't need to ask how you're feeling tonight."

Arizona huffed on the couch and rolled her eyes as Alex sat next to her. She was past forty weeks pregnant – what did he expect her to be? Sunshine and rainbows?

Alex leaned over and kissed her belly, "Time to come out Baby Bear. You're making Mommy cranky."

Arizona wasn't in the mood for Alex's jokes. She was tired. Tired of being pregnant. Tired of having her organs being used as punching bags by tiny hands and feet. Tired of her bones aching. Tired of having to pee every fifteen minutes. And then she was just plain tired due to restless nights with little sleep. Arizona pushed Alex off of her and tried to get off the couch. She had to pee again. Alex knew better than to try and help her. He had been told off too many times for trying to help her do something that she felt she could do on her own. He knew that she'd bite his head off again if he dared to try to give her a helping hand. It took her three tries but she was finally able to push herself up off of the couch.

Alex knew that Arizona was just frustrated that she was still pregnant. He knew how badly he wanted the baby to be born and he wasn't even the one housing the baby and dealing with all of the issues that came with that so he knew that Arizona was justified with her cranky attitude.

Alex gave Arizona a few minutes to cool off before he tracked her down in the kitchen where she was angrily pounding a mallet to flatten a chicken breast for dinner.

"You want to try some of those old wives tales to get things moving along?" Alex asked as he placed his hands on Arizona's hips from behind. He was relieved when he didn't feel her stiffen at his touch.

"Like drinking castor oil?" Arizona snarked and continued to pound on the poultry. There was no way that he was getting her to digest something that had been used as a means of torture by the Nazis.

"More like eating spicy foods," Alex suggested as he went to pull out ingredients for dinner.

"My heartburn is bad enough without that."

"That just means our baby is going to have a full head of hair," Alex explained another wives tale about bad heartburn being a sign of lots of baby hair. "We could go for a walk?"

"It's raining," Arizona sighed. She wasn't against trying some of the old remedies for labor but none of Alex's suggestions sounded appealing to her.

Alex leaned in and nipped at her ear, "How about sex?" Alex ran his hands up and down her sides. "An orgasm is a good way to start things. If nothing else it will soften your cervix."

"Isn't that what got us here to begin with?" Arizona rolled her eyes at Alex.

Alex brought his hands up and cupped her breasts, "What better way to get us out of it then?"

Arizona winced as Alex's fingers ran over her nipples. They were already very sensitive and she hadn't even started breast feeding yet. She brought her own hands up and moved Alex's hands back to her hips. "Those aren't yours anymore."

"Sorry," Alex whispered and kissed her neck as he realized that he was hurting her. He continued to lavish her neck with open-mouthed kisses as his hands trailed down to her thighs and he pulled her body back into his where she could feel his arousal. "I can share them for a little while, knowing that I get them back."

Arizona strained her neck to give Alex more room to work. While she was still feeling like a beached whale and anything but sexy, the things he was doing to her neck had her body wanting more.

"Let me take care of you," Alex whispered as he grabbed her hand and led her upstairs to the bedroom.

**…**

Arizona was breathing heavily as she lay in bed. She was wrapped up with only a sheet covering her naked body. The only light in the room came from the street lights that were shining in from the window. Alex had just left to go finish making the dinner that she had started before they decided to head up to the bedroom in an attempt to jump start labor. Enjoying sex in advanced stages of pregnancy was difficult but she made every attempt to do so knowing that she was going to go almost two months without once the baby was born. She didn't know how Alex could enjoy it since she was so ugly but she was grateful that he was able to put his repulsion aside to keep her happy. She had almost fallen asleep when she heard the bedroom door creak open and Alex walked in with a tray of food.

"Thanks," she said appreciatively as she took a bite. She was starving before she had started making dinner so the detour to the bedroom only made her even hungrier. Her hunger didn't keep her from nearly spitting the chicken out as soon as it entered her mouth. It didn't taste anything like the lemon garlic chicken that she had planned for dinner. "What is that?"

"Just a few spices," Alex smirked as he took his first bite.

"More like a few hot peppers."

Alex had to admit that it had a little more heat than he planned on but people did say that it would help induce labor. "I figured we could use a little more help." He then pushed a pill toward her, "For the heartburn."

Arizona worked hard to finish the rest of her dinner. She didn't love spicy food to begin with but she was willing to do anything – besides drink castor oil – to get the baby to come out.

Alex was content to lie in bed the rest of the night while Arizona rested. Since he had gotten home later than he had planned it was almost nine by the time they had finished dinner and nine o'clock had been Arizona's bed time in the last few weeks of her pregnancy. He loved being able to track the baby with his hand as she punched and kicked at him. He knew it was annoying to Arizona to be constantly kept awake by the baby's movements but Alex wanted to take advantage of the feeling while he still could.

"I think it's going to be not tomorrow but the next day," Alex broke the silence of the room after a particularly hard kick to his hand. He scooted back up so that he was lying next to Arizona. "She's not ready just yet but she will be by Wednesday."

"Hopefully," Arizona sighed and rubbed her belly in silent encouragement to motivate him to come out. "I really don't want to have to be induced so he needs to get a move on on his own." She was all for modern medicine but the complications that came with labor inductions were not anything she wanted to deal with. Her doctor had given them a deadline of Friday to have the baby naturally before wanting to induce.

"We'll just have a lot of sex then," Alex laughed and leaned in for a chaste kiss. He could tell that Arizona was getting worried when she brought up induction and he wanted to keep her mind from wandering there when they still had four days until that was a possibility.

"How can you think I'm pretty?" Arizona questioned as she turned so that they were on their sides facing each other.

Alex ran his hand over her cheek. He knew she was self-conscious about her body but she had no reason to be. He found her even more beautiful pregnant than he did normally. "How can I not? You're hot."

Arizona gestured to her body. "I'm not hot. I'm fat. My fingers are the size of sausages. My boobs are huge and not in a good way. I'm just...ugh."

Alex moved his finger that was on her cheek onto her lips to silence her. "I told you before and I'll tell you again. You're gorgeous. You're not fat – you're having our baby. And I'm sure that you'll be in even better shape than before as soon as she comes out and you can get back to running way too many miles a week." Alex picked up her hand and played with her ring finger, "And your fingers were tiny before – like we had to order your wedding ring special because they are so tiny – so now they're just normal sized." Alex dropped her fingers and gently cupped her ample breasts gently, "And your boobs _are_ huge and in a very good way. I just wish I could play with them but I don't want to hurt you. But at least I'll get to stare at them a lot in the near future while you're breast feeding."

"I love you," Arizona said before smashing her lips on his. She felt an overwhelming desire to kiss him after his little speech.

"I love you too," Alex moved his hand to her stomach as he leaned over to deepen the kiss. The kiss started out slow as Alex wanted to prove to her just as beautiful he thought she was. Arizona seemed to agree with him about having lots of sex as she was the one that turned the kissing into something more passionate. They were certainly going to test the old wives' tale about sex bringing on labor.

**…**

Alex was right and two days later, on Wednesday, their son, Emmett Timothy Karev, was born.

Arizona was woken up from an afternoon nap on Tuesday with a strong contraction. She quickly realized that this contraction wasn't like the Braxton-Hicks contractions she had been having off and on for over a month. It just felt different. The pain was sharper and stronger. She felt like she was being kicked in the abdomen by a sumo wrestler – repeatedly. It made her lose her breath. Arizona knew that one contraction didn't mean anything so she pulled out her phone to use the application that Alex had put on it to time her contractions. It took fifteen minutes to have another one. She immediately sent Alex a text to let him know what had happened but told him not to worry because he was due to be done at work in two hours and there was no way she would progress that far in just two hours. She promised in her text that she would call him when they got closer together. Alex didn't listen to her texts. He ran into the house frantically less than twenty minutes after getting the first text.

"Are you okay? What can I do?" Alex practically yelled as he found his wife lounging on the couch like nothing was going on.

Arizona was stunned to see him standing in their living room looking like a crazy man while she was trying to relax. "I'm okay," she said as she tried to look around him to see the episode of Dance Moms she had been watching. The show was a train wreck but she couldn't turn it off after getting sucked into a marathon. She made a mental note as she watched to never ever be a parent that would but her children through that terror even if they loved dancing.

"You sure?" Alex asked as he paced in front of the couch. This was the worst part of Arizona's pregnancy for him – he had no idea what she was feeling and he felt completely out of control. "What do you need? Do you want to get in the bath? Or how about the exercise ball?" Alex listed off different birthing techniques as he continued to pace in front of her. He didn't understand how she was being so calm when their entire lives were about to change.

Arizona reached out and grabbed Alex's hand to stop him from pacing. "Alex, calm down for me. Please. This is just starting. Contractions are really far apart so it's no biggie right now. So come sit down and watch this lady yell at these kids for making mistakes when it's not like she could get her butt to do these moves properly either. She's not even a dancer and somehow thinks she's the best thing to ever happen to dancing."

Alex ignored Arizona's rant about Dance Moms. He was too focused on the whole labor situation that Arizona wasn't seeming to even be bothered by. "What do we do? Do we go to the hospital? Have you called Dr. Tracy?" Alex asked as he wrung his hands together next to her on the couch. He was clearly very nervous about what was about to happen.

Arizona found it endearing to see how nervous Alex was about labor starting. It was cute the way he seemed to forget all of his medical knowledge as he worried about the birth of his child. He had seen and delivered many babies but this was _his_ baby. It was completely different for both of them. "Alex, you were on Addison Montgomery's service for how long as an intern? And now you're a pediatric surgeon. You know how labor works. Dr. Tracy said to take a few long walks tonight, take a sleeping pill and head to the hospital when we get up."

"But what if something happens?"

"Then we go to the hospital. We don't live very far away," Arizona said calmly as she looked at the labor application on her phone. She knew another contraction was going to be coming soon as long as they stayed regular. "Now, after this next contraction, we're going to go take a walk around the neighborhood to try to speed things up. Can you please stop freaking out? Because I need you to be the calm and rational person during all of this when things start getting intense and I'm cursing you out for putting this baby in me."

"I can do that. I can do that," Alex repeated as he took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Seeing his wife in labor was making everything very real for him. He was going to be a father soon. While the thought of having a tiny baby that depended on him for everything was somewhat terrifying it was also very exciting. He leaned his forehead against Arizona's as he smiled, "We're having a baby."

"_I'm_ having a baby. You're just watching," Arizona grimaced as the contraction hit her. Alex shot up off the couch and positioned himself behind Arizona to help massage her lower back and relieve the pain of the contraction like they learned to do in the birthing classes that Arizona forced him to go to even though they were both doctors.

They were able to walk up and down their street for an hour before the autumn rains forced them back inside. Walking didn't seem to help progress anything. The contractions stayed around fifteen minutes apart for most of the evening. Arizona rebuked all of Alex's attempts to check her cervix. He wasn't her doctor. He was her husband and the baby's father and she didn't want to mix those roles. After Alex forced a peanut and butter jelly sandwich down her throat she decided it was time to take the sleeping pill. The next day was likely going to be a long one and she wanted to have all of her strength going into labor and delivery. Arizona tried to get Alex to take a sleeping pill too but he refused; he couldn't sleep knowing that his wife was in labor. He lay in bed next to her watching her sleep. He kept his hand on her stomach and could sometimes feel the contractions as they ripped through her body. He kept looking for any sign of distress but all he saw was Arizona sleeping peacefully. Sometime after two in the morning, he finally succumbed to his own exhaustion.

**…**

At four in the morning, Arizona woke with a jolt as a contraction hit her body. At first she thought that she was woken up because the sleeping pill had worn off but when another stronger contraction hit her body less than ten minutes later she knew that it was the progression of labor that had woken her up.

"Alex," Arizona whispered in the early morning darkness. "Alex," Arizona said louder as she tried to reposition herself in bed so that she could see him.

Alex mumbled in his sleep and rolled over as Arizona called out his name.

"Alex," Arizona continued to repeat when she was finally able to change positions in bed so that she could reach him but he was out cold. "Alex," Arizona pushed on his shoulder just as a contraction came on causing her to shove him a lot harder than she had planned on.

"What?" Alex yelled at his rude awakening as he tried to roll over and go back to sleep. He was so lost in the fog of sleep that he had completely forgotten about his wife being in early labor.

"Having _your_ baby here, Karev," Arizona growled through the pain of the contraction.

Alex's eyes immediately shot open and he scrambled in bed so that he was sitting up next to Arizona. He saw that she was in pain and hated that he couldn't do anything to take her pain away. "What's going on? What can I do? How far apart are contractions? Should we go to the hospital? Has your water broken yet?" Alex rattled off a list of questions as Arizona gripped onto his hand tightly and tried to breathe through the contraction.

"Hospital. Yes," Arizona grunted as the contraction passed through her body. "Oh god, I want an epidural ASAP."

"What happened to a natural birth?" Alex questioned and immediately realized that it was the wrong thing to say to a woman in labor.

Arizona shot Alex a death glare as he dared to question what she wanted during labor. Alex knew what that look meant. That look meant shut the hell up. Alex didn't say anything else about an epidural or drugs. It was up to Arizona whether she wanted them or not. He wasn't the one pushing a baby out of a tiny hole of his body so he had no right to question what she did or did not want. Instead he helped Arizona out of bed and led her downstairs. He had packed the car the night before with their bags and the car seat so that he wouldn't have to worry about forgetting anything when it came time to leave.

Less than two hours later, Arizona was happily asleep in her hospital room after having received a much needed dose of drugs. It was still too early for an epidural but the pain medicines that they were able to provide did the trick to be able to give her a few more hours of rest before the real work of labor started. Dr. Tracy, their obstetrician, had come in to check on her when they arrived and estimated that they would have a baby by dinner time and encouraged Arizona to get as much sleep as she could before she needed to start pushing. Alex wired himself with caffeine and used the downtime to give status reports to family members and ward off friends that wanted to come say hello to the soon-to-be parents. Word quickly spread throughout the hospital that Arizona was in labor and everyone wanted to come and give their well wishes but Alex and Arizona had long since decided that this was an intensely personal time for them and they didn't want everyone in the hospital in their delivery room. They wanted to enjoy the delivery and first few hours after birth as a family before they had to share their new baby with the rest of the world. Luckily, Cristina took it upon herself to make sure that they were left alone as long as Alex sent out regular text updates to her for dissemination to the crowd.

Alex kept a close eye on the monitors that showed the contractions while he watched Arizona sleep. He had seen too many problems arise during labor to allow him to relax while his wife was going through it. After a few hours he noticed that they were starting to get stronger and longer. Arizona was starting to transition into the next stage of labor. Alex watched as a particularly strong contraction started. He couldn't believe that Arizona was sleeping through it until he realized that Arizona's eyes had opened and were staring at him.

"It's starting to hurt again," Arizona whispered quietly.

"You're transitioning into active labor," Alex explained as he moved his chair closer to Arizona's bed and grabbed her hand. "Can I get you anything?"

"This baby out of me," Arizona deadpanned.

Alex brushed one of Arizona's unruly curls out of her face, "I wish I could do that for you." He hated not being able to help her like she wanted him to do but he would do the best that he could.

"Looks like we're making progress," Dr. Tracy said as she walked into the room. She had been updated by the nurses that Arizona's labor was progressing. She pulled on a pair of gloves and rolled up to the bottom of Arizona's bed to do an exam. "You're almost at eight centimeters so you're almost there. Your water still hasn't broken. It's up to you if you want me to break it or wait for it to happen naturally."

"Break it," Arizona answered without even looking at Alex for his opinion. There were pluses and minuses to both but the biggest plus was that it should help speed labor up and Arizona wanted to do everything possible to get that to happen.

The room stayed quiet as Dr. Tracy performed the procedure and then put the sheet back down and stripped off her gloves. "Okay, everything looks great. Now we just wait. Are you going to want an epidural?"

This time Arizona did look to Alex for his thoughts. She had constantly wavered on the epidural topic throughout the pregnancy. She knew as a doctor that the epidural wouldn't harm the baby at all but as a mother she worried. She looked at Alex for help but Alex couldn't make this decision for her. It was her that was going to endure the pain and therefore her decision. He would support her either way.

Dr. Tracy could sense the uncertainty about the question and didn't wait for an answer, "I'll be back in an hour and we can discuss it then but if you want it you can't wait too long or then it'll be too late."

"Thanks," Arizona shouted after her as the OB left the room. Arizona again looked to Alex for help on the decision.

"It's up to you, babe," Alex lifted their joined hands and kissed her palm.

"Cave-women had babies without drugs for centuries," Arizona reasoned as if she was trying to pump herself up to going into labor without the drug.

Alex noticed the monitor was starting to pick up indicating a contraction was about to start. He gripped her hand tighter, "But taking it doesn't mean that you're a wimp either. Cave-women would have had it if they had the medicine to do it."

"I can do this," Arizona grimaced through the contraction. "I can do this."

"You don't have to have an epidural. You can do other drugs as well. Less powerful. Less invasive," Alex said gently as he tried to take some of her pain away by letting her squeeze his hand as tight as she could. She was surprisingly strong for a tiny woman but he didn't want to show any pain to his wife. Not when his discomfort was nothing compared to what she was going through.

The contraction passed.

"No epidural," Arizona said with conviction as she looked in Alex's eyes.

"Okay," he kissed her. "No epidural."

**…**

Four hours later Arizona was begging for an epidural but it was too late. Once Arizona's water was broken her labor progressed fairly quickly for a first time mother. Her contractions only got stronger and closer together. Alex did everything he could to try an ease her pain. The injuries from her accident only served to intensify the contractions as the baby made its way down her pelvis. Very quickly contractions went from lasting only one to two minutes at a time, every five minutes to being almost continuous. She was lucky if she got a thirty second break between them. After trying almost every birthing position possible, they found that the least painful was to have Arizona standing, hunched over the back of the hospital bed as Alex roughly massaged her lower back through the contractions. The labor and delivery staff was more than happy to allow Arizona to labor in this manner as long as they were able to keep an eye on the baby's vital signs.

Arizona was so consumed by the labor that she barely even noticed what was going on in the room around her. She barely even heard what Alex was saying to her during contractions. She had a one track mind. To get the baby out of her body and to do that she needed to get through each contraction. Alex found himself immersed in taking care of Arizona and coaching her through the contractions. He quickly found that he had stopped acting like a doctor and more like a husband and a father. He let the nurses and doctor do the monitoring of his wife and baby while he focused on helping Arizona through the pain. That was his job that day.

They were both so caught up in the labor that they didn't even notice the vitals on the monitors start to change. They didn't notice the two nurses whispering to each other as they looked at the monitors. They also didn't notice when one nurse ran out of the room to find the doctor.

Alex did notice when the OB ran into the room with the latest printout from the monitors. Arizona was still standing behind the bed trying to get through a contraction when she felt Alex's hands go limp against her back.

"Arizona, we need you to get in the bed," Dr. Tracy said in an authoritative tone.

"What's going on?" Alex demanded answers from the doctor. He knew her tone wasn't good. Something had to be going wrong.

Arizona looked up at Alex for answers. "What's wrong?" she asked him with fear in her voice. She also knew that there had to be something wrong for Dr. Tracy to be demanding her to get into the bed since normally they let mothers labor in whatever position worked best for them.

"Arizona, the baby's heart rate isn't accelerating like it should during a contraction which is a sign that it isn't getting enough oxygen," the doctor said calmly. "It could be nothing. It could just be your position. So we need to switch your position so that you're lying on your left side and monitor it."

"What if it's not the position?" Alex asked with a tinge of fear in his voice. He was so close to having a baby in his arms but he knew that until he held her as she cried and wiggled in his arms that there was still a chance that something could go wrong.

"Then we have a lot of other things we can try as well but let's try this first. And if those don't work we'll go do a c-section," Dr. Tracy again answered calmly. "I can have the baby out in two minutes if I need to." She knew that she needed to keep the parents calm and the only tool she had in her arsenal was her tone of voice – especially when the parents were pediatric surgeons who had seen just what could go wrong during delivery.

Alex helped Arizona get back into bed. A nurse immediately put an oxygen mask over Arizona's mouth to help her oxygen rate, and thus the baby's oxygen rate, increase. Arizona latched onto Alex even tighter than she had during contractions. Alex didn't have to look at her to know that she was terrified. Alex kissed her temple and held her hand. He knew that she was trying her hardest not to break down in tears so he wasn't going to force her to talk. Arizona stayed quiet while Dr. Tracy repositioned the external monitor on her belly. Alex's eyes were glued to the machines that gave both the baby's vitals as well as Arizona's. They waited and watched the monitors during a series of contractions.

"It looks like the added oxygen and position switch helped," Dr. Tracy concluded with a smile as she watched Arizona relax as the pain subsided. "Leave the mask on for the next ten minutes but I want you to stay in this position. I know it's not going to be as comfortable but it's best for the baby."

"How much longer?" Alex asked the question he knew Arizona was thinking. While the situation seemed to be under control for the moment he was afraid of something else coming up.

"Arizona's at nine centimeters now so it shouldn't be too much longer. However, every labor is different. It could be an hour or it could be four."

Arizona groaned under the mask on her face but she knew there was no way to speed things up besides a c-section, which was only a last resort.

Two hours later Arizona was ready to quit and just go home. This baby was taking its' sweet time coming out and Arizona was done with it. She surprised Alex when she tried to get out of bed and leave the room, saying that she was going home. Alex immediately realized that this was a sign that she was transitioning into the last phase of labor – the pushing stage. Laboring moms always wanted to quit right before it was go time. Alex alerted the nurses and they soon had the doctor in the room that agreed that it was time to start pushing.

The scene in the hospital room changed from fairly calm to active when it was time to start pushing. A cart of tools used to weigh, bathe and treat the newborn was wheeled in as they prepared for the baby's arrival. A tray of tools was placed at the bottom of the bed for the obstetrician to use to help the birth and post-delivery. Dr. Tracy donned a gown and handed one to Alex to wear over his clothes. Alex and Arizona decided early on in the pregnancy that Alex was going to be the one to catch the baby as it was born. They wanted his hands to be the first ones to touch their child.

Alex's role as she started pushing changed from being the soothing voice to help her through the labor pains to being more of an authoritative coach to give her the motivation to push hard through each contraction. After helping her through months of physical therapy Alex knew that Arizona responded best to a tough voice to push her through the worst pain even if it resulted in her calling him every nasty name in the book. He had already promised not to hold anything she said during labor against her. It was the least he could do for her bringing their daughter or son into the world.

The doctor was in no rush to get the baby out as she started to have Arizona push. Pushing slow but methodically would ensure that Arizona would have an easier recovery. After thirty minutes of pushing Arizona had not so quietly informed her husband that he was never touching her again and that she hated him but during the short lulls between contractions she clung onto his arm like he was a life raft.

But once the top of the baby's head was visible, Dr. Tracy's slow moving tone suddenly changed. The entire mood of the room shifted. Arizona was focused on pushing that she couldn't see what had been happening.

"Arizona," Dr. Tracy spoke soothingly but quickly during a break in the contractions. "The baby's heart rate is decreasing so we need to get the baby out quickly. Now we've got a little bit of time but you're going to need to give it everything you've got."

Arizona immediately burst into tears. She already felt like she had been giving it everything she had and didn't know if she had anything more to give. She had nothing more to give and her baby needed her to be able to do better or there could be major complications.

"Arizona, take deep breaths," Alex whispered into her ear as he saw her starting to freak out as well as the next contraction coming on the monitor. "It's going to be okay. The baby's going to be okay. You can do this, babe. You're the strongest person I know. Now just push. Push hard. You're almost there. Our baby is almost here."

With the next push she was able to get the baby's head fully out. It was then that they were able to see what was causing the baby's distress. The cord was wrapped around the baby's neck.

The doctor couldn't unwrap the cord without doing more damage because of the positioning of the cord around the neck. The baby had to come out before the cord wrapped any tighter around its' little neck. Alex could see what was happening but neither he nor Dr. Tracy wanted to alarm Arizona. Alex was scared to death but he silently agreed with the doctor to keep quiet about the dangers the baby was in. He put on his game face as he continued to encourage Arizona.

"Okay, Arizona whatever you do – do not stop pushing. Push even when the contraction stops and we'll have this baby out in a few seconds. Dad, if you want to catch you better get down here," Dr. Tracy said as she tried to get the baby out quickly. If it were any other father, she would not have let the Dad come catch the baby but Dr. Tracy knew that Alex had a good amount of experience in labor and delivery and neonatology. His medical knowledge would take over and he would know what to do to help deliver his baby safely.

After the complications, Alex was torn about whether he should stay with Arizona or go down to deliver his baby but Arizona pushed him away from her so he knew he needed to do what she wanted.

The doctor spoke quietly to Alex so that only he could hear, "You grab the baby and then move out of the way so we can work."

Alex nodded and looked up at his wife who was curled upward and pushing with all her might. He kept one hand resting around her ankle so that he never lost contact with her, "Keep going, Zo. Almost there."

With one last hard push, Arizona immediately felt relief and sunk back down on the bed. She had run marathons but nothing was as difficult as giving birth. It was the true test of endurance. She could hear a few soft cries as she took deep breaths to catch her breath. Her eyes were misty with tears that made it hard to see what was going on at the bottom of the bed. As soon as her head hit the pillow she felt the weight of her husband putting their baby onto her chest.

"Baby," Arizona smiled as she glanced down to finally meet the person who had been living inside of her for the last forty weeks. Arizona immediately moved her hands to hold the baby against her chest. "You're here, baby."

"It's a boy," Alex beamed at her as he rested his hand on his son's back and leaned down next to Arizona's head. "We have a son."

Alex and Arizona were silent as they looked at their son for the first time. He was all covered in a thin layer of vernix slime and other birthing liquids but he was still the best looking thing that either one of them had ever set their eyes on. He let out a few barely audible cries as he stared at his parents. There were no words to be said. But as they were silent the rest of the room was busy and after holding him for a brief moment he was being picked up off of Arizona's chest by a nurse.

"He needs oxygen," the nurse informed the new mother who was looking worried. Arizona had made it clear that they wanted to have a period of bonding before they took the baby off for newborn testing. She expected a lot more time than the half minute it had been since he had been born.

"Wh – What?" Arizona looked to Alex with glassy eyes for answers. The look in Alex's eyes told her that she didn't know everything that was going on in the room.

Alex brushed her sweat soaked hair off of her face. He knew that Arizona deserved the truth. She was already in a distressed emotional state and keeping what had happened in the last minute of their son's birth was not going to help things. "The cord was around his neck which explains the heart rate issues that were happening but you got him out quickly and Dr. Tracy got the cord off before it could hurt him."

"He's doing great Dr. Robbins. He just needs a little extra oxygen for a minute for a little boost," a nurse said loudly as she performed an exam on the tiny baby in the back of the room.

"Alex," Arizona started to cry harder when she heard that something was wrong with her baby.

"Shh," Alex soothed and kissed her temple as he wrapped her up in his arms as best he could without hurting her. "Listen to him crying. He's fine. He's better than fine. He's perfect. Arizona, I promise."

The sound of her baby's cries was able to placate her but she wouldn't be fully calm until she had him in her arms again. By the time the placenta was delivered, the baby was put back into Arizona's arms with a perfect bill of health.

"Five minute APGAR was a ten up from the seven at one minute," the nurse informed the parents as she put the baby on Arizona's chest. "Seven pounds, seven ounces and twenty-one and a quarter inches long."

Alex wrapped his arm around Arizona's shoulders as he rested on the edge of the bed and peered down at his son. "Told you he was perfect," Alex said as he reached out to grab hold of his son's tiny fingers that were peeking out of the blanket he was wrapped in.

For the first time since he was born, they were both able to get a good look at their son. He had a head full of dark hair and a nose that looked just like a miniature version of Alex's. His blue eyes were wide as they took in the new world that he had just joined. And he certainly had a healthy set of lungs as his weak cries earlier had turned into loud protests at being brought into the world.

"Thank you," Alex tore his gaze from his son to his wife and leaned down to kiss her. His wife had given him this amazing gift and he knew that he'd never be able to thank her enough. "You did an amazing job today."

"That sucked," Arizona said honestly when their lips parted but then looked at the sweet baby boy in her arms. "But he's worth it." She leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips before gesturing for Alex to take him from her. Alex had only gotten to hold him for a moment as he delivered him. Arizona knew that Alex had to be dying to hold his son but she also knew that he wouldn't take him away from her until she offered him the baby.

"This is awesome," Alex smiled at Arizona as he felt the full weight of his baby in his arms for the first time. He had been waiting for so long to hold his baby and when it finally happened it did not disappoint. "Hey Baby Bear. Mommy and I have been waiting a very long time to meet you," Alex said as he kissed his son for the first time.

"His name is not going to be Bear so you can go ahead and forget about that right now," Arizona informed Alex sharply with a glare. Even after an exhausting and emotional day she still had enough energy to shoot that idea down before it even got going in Alex's brain. Her glare quickly softened when she saw her boys interact together.

The family moment was interrupted when a nurse came back into the room to have Arizona try breastfeeding for the first time. After a mostly successful attempt the nurse offered to take the baby so that they could get some rest but neither Alex nor Arizona wanted to let their son leave their sight. They all still had so much to learn about each other. The nurse took her leave and left the new family alone to bond.

After a heated debate and a very intense game of rock, paper, scissors, Baby Bear had a name. Arizona always knew that she wanted to honor her brother if she ever had a son but she also knew that she couldn't handle calling her son her brother's name every day. It would be too much of a daily reminder for her so she and Alex decided that Timothy would be their son's middle name. It would be a reminder for him of the uncle that he'd never get to meet; of the brave man who gave his life for his country and was the best brother a girl could ever want. Emmett was a less universal choice of name but over the last month Arizona had warmed up to it. She had even started to like it more than her chosen boy name. Alex had come across it when he was going through a baby name book and thought it was perfect because it fit Arizona's requirements for a classic but unique name. At first Arizona could only think of the Twilight books and the vampire in them named Emmett but Alex assured her that the only names people knew from those books were Bella, Edward and Jacob. And after beating her rock with his paper, Arizona lost naming rights to their son. A right that Alex knew she wouldn't give up if she wasn't happy with his choice of Emmett so he wasn't too worried when he played paper to her rock. With the loss, Arizona did win naming rights to their second child so she wasn't going away empty handed.

"I don't know how to nickname Emmett," Arizona lamented as she held a two-hour-old Emmett in her arms. She looked at him curiously as she tried to figure out what to call him. "Do we go with Em? Or Mett? Or E.T.?"

Alex made a face at the last suggestion which only brought up images of the weird bicycle riding alien creature from a movie. "Bear," Alex said simply as he lifted the light weight of the baby out of her arms and cradled his son close to his chest. "You like Bear don't you?" he spoke softly in the baby's ear.

Emmett responded with a soft cry and Alex ran his hands up and down his back in an attempt to soothe him. After eight months of calling the baby Bear, Alex knew he wouldn't be able to give it up so easily. To him, Emmett would always also be known as Bear so it was the perfect nickname. Arizona was too tired to fight Alex at his suggestion of continuing to call their newborn Bear. Plus, she knew that it was futile and that the nickname was sticking.

Alex noticed the exhaustion starting to set in on Arizona. She had been fighting it since Emmett was born because she didn't want to miss a moment of his young life by sleeping. Alex leaned up from his chair and kissed his sleepy wife and positioned Emmett so that she could give him a kiss as well. "Take a nap, Zo. We'll be right here when you wake up."

Arizona yawned and curled her body away from them, "Send my parents more pictures."

"I've already sent them at least thirty but I'll send them another ten and a video," Alex reassured her quietly as he made funny faces at Emmett.

"And I want a cheeseburger when I wake up. And not a hospital one," Arizona said more as a demand than a request as she was on the verge of well deserved sleep.

"I'll send Teddy out to get one in exchange for some baby holding time."

"I love you," she whispered as her eyes fluttered to a close.

Alex leaned up again to give her another kiss on her cheek. "I love you too," he told her back but he was sure that she was already fast asleep.

The Karev boys had quality male bonding time while Arizona slept. Emmett fell asleep almost immediately after his mother so Alex took the time to study all of his son's features. It amazed him that he could see so much of himself and his wife in Emmett already. Alex knew that a baby's eye color almost always changed from birth but every time Emmett's bright blue eyes peeked open at him, he couldn't help but hope that Emmett's eyes would stay that same blue color. Not wanting to lie to his wife, Alex also took a short video of Emmett sleeping in his arms and e-mailed it along with some pictures of the baby to waiting family and friends. Alex hoped that pictures would at least keep their hospital friends at bay. They really didn't want visitors until the next day, with the exception being Teddy who knew to keep her visit brief and Cristina who was getting ten minutes of baby time as thanks for keeping everyone out of their business during the labor and delivery. After only a short time asleep, Arizona was once again awake followed minutes later by Emmett. They were already establishing a routine for breast feeding. She and Emmett both were still learning how to breastfeed which meant that they needed to attempt to feed every ninety minutes or so. Arizona didn't mind sleeping in short chunks because it meant lots of baby snuggles. Breastfeeding wasn't as easy as she expected. It was nothing like what they showed on television but Arizona was determined to at least give it her best effort. Teddy arrived after her shift ended with a brown bag full of greasy food for Arizona and Alex. She happily traded it for the baby snuggled in the blue blanket that Arizona's mom had crocheted. She had also crocheted a pink blanket but told Arizona to donate whichever one wasn't needed to the hospital nursery. Teddy rocked Emmett while his parents devoured their dinner. They had had a long day and food wasn't their priority. Teddy lavished the baby with attention but knew to give him back and make herself scarce once the food was gone. The first day was for the parents not for the friends.

At less than five hours old, Emmett Karev already had both of his parents wrapped around his tiny fingers. After dinner, they both squeezed onto the hospital bed so they could him together. An arrangement that came about because they kept fighting over who got to hold him. As they looked at his tiny face while he slept they already couldn't imagine their lives without him in it. Everything they had gone through in the previous nine months was worth it for him.

**…**


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: Lots of fluff here as we near the end. One more chapter to go! Thank you for reading and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

The hospital hallways were empty. The hustle and bustle of the busy day had passed. Visiting hours were over so the only people around were mainly hospital employees. Once it passed nine at night, doctors and nurses spent more time in on-call rooms and the cafeteria than in patient rooms unless they were in the ER or paged. Up in the nursery, the lights were dim and a lone nurse and intern kept watch over the bassinets filled with the newest additions to the Seattle population. The nursery was normally a very busy place in the hospital but after visiting hours were over it became a ghost town. Most parents either chose to keep their babies with them in their hospital rooms or were trying to sleep while their babies stayed in the nursery. But in the very back of the nursery there was one lone father pacing as he tried to calm his newborn baby.

"Shhh," Alex whispered to the baby in his arms as he walked in a circle at the back of the nursery. He didn't want his baby to be catalyst for all the babies sleeping in the nursery to start crying. "I know it is very difficult to be twelve hours old, little dude. You're in this scary new place. There are lots of sounds and lights. I get it. That's upsetting. But can you protest just a little quieter? Please?"

Emmett seemed to realize that his father needed his help and finally stopped the heart-stopping wailing and slowed to a quieter whimper.

"That's better," Alex smiled as he watched Emmett's face turn from one of anger to contentment.

The smile on Alex's face had been there since the first time he held his son. It went against everything his body knew to smile for that long but he couldn't help it on the day he became a father. He was a proud papa and didn't care about showing it even if that meant tarnishing his reputation as a sullen jerk. As Emmett's cries soothed, Alex grabbed a pacifier from a nearby bin and held it up to his son's mouth. Emmett let out one last cry before latching onto the foreign object. Alex watched as Emmett figured out what to do with the pacifier. It took a moment but eventually Emmett started sucking on it while flailing his little legs in Alex's arms like he was trying to get away.

"I know you miss Mommy," Alex spoke softly as he kept pacing around the room. "I do too but she worked very hard today so we're going to let her get some sleep for a little bit. You know you didn't make it very easy on her today but I think she's forgiven you – though she will probably remind you of how difficult you were when you're on your first date or some other embarrassing time. Moms remember everything and they always like to bring it up at the worst times."

In the dim light of the nursery Alex realized that this was the first time that he had been alone with his son and there was no better time for their first father-son talk. Emmett gurgled around the pacifier and stared at his father as Alex kept talking to him. "You are a very lucky little boy, Emmett, because your mommy is the very best in the world. She can make anyone feel better with just her smile. She has this magic touch and can fix any problem. And her laugh, something that you'll hear a lot of in our house, makes everything better. And she's also the most beautiful woman in the world which means that all of your little friends will probably have crushes on her. She's a MILF but you don't need to know what that is for a very long time. Back to your mommy. She is very smart but she's not nerdy about it unless you watch her watch Jeopardy – she likes to shout out the answers before the clue is even finished being read. And she's also the kindest person you'll ever know. She won't even step on a bug; instead she'll take the bug outside and set it free. And she always sees the best in everyone – another thing that I hope that you get from her. Hopefully you get everything from her because she is a much better person than Daddy. Daddy totally married up."

Once Alex was sure that Emmett was asleep he took a seat in a rocking chair at the back of the room. "Now I know that Mommy is going to be your favorite person in the world. No one can compete with her but I have a birthday gift for you that might sway you to my side when you're older. You, Emmett Timothy Karev, are now the proud owner of a season ticket to the Seahawks – something that I will renew every year for you. Every boy should have a football team and because we live in Seattle you will grow up with the Seahawks. Maybe by the time you are old enough to remember a game they will actually be good. But they do try their best so we can't be angry with them. And Karevs are not fair weather fans so we will cheer for them win or lose. We actually have four tickets because you obviously aren't going to go to the games by yourself and Mommy loves football too. Plus, I figure eventually, hopefully you will have a little sister or brother so we should have some extra tickets for when they want to go. Maybe we can even convince Mommy to let us go to a game this season. They still have a handful of home games left. But Mommy will probably say you are too little or it is too cold so you need to work on your best pouty face so that we can get to go. She's going to be a sucker for your cuteness so you need to learn how to use it to your advantage. You know, something I always wanted my dad to do for me was to take me to a football game so I hope you like it, but if you don't we can find something else to do together. Whatever you want. I didn't have a very good dad but I'm going to try my very best to be a good one for you because you deserve the best."

Alex leaned down and placed a kiss on Emmett's forehead, "I will never hurt you, Bear. Sometimes you might think that I'm being mean but that's a dad's job – to do what is best for you even if doesn't make you happy. But I'm doing it for you and I hope you will forgive me when you get older and can see that. And I will always, always, _always_ love you. No matter what. You and your mommy are the best things to ever happen to me."

Alex sat back and continued to rock Emmett as he slept. It was the first true moments of peace that he had gotten in the last day. After Emmett was born Arizona's hospital room turned into a revolving door of people. Even with their request of no visitors being honored they still had doctors and nurses coming in to do their checks and work on breastfeeding. And even when it was just the three of them in the room, both Arizona and his phones kept ringing and signaling them to text alerts from their friends and families wanting to send them their congratulations. It was when he saw Arizona struggling to keep her eyes open that he whisked Emmett out of the room so that she could finally get some peace, for a couple of hours at least. In the quiet of the nursery, while he held his sleeping son, he was able to process everything that had happened that day. Becoming a father brought up all of his issues with his own father. Alex had spent a lot of the pregnancy worrying about what kind of father he would be after growing up with an abusive one. He didn't have a good role model to try to emulate. Arizona always reassured him that he would be nothing like his own father but that didn't stop the worry in the back of his head. He knew the statistics about abused children growing up to be abusers themselves were high. But when he looked at his son, Alex knew that he could never be like his own father. He could never hurt his son. He couldn't look at his perfect little face and knowingly hurt him. Alex made a promise to himself when he held Emmett for the first time – he would be the best father he could be to his children; and that was one of two promises (the other being his marriage vows) that he would never break.

Emmett slept for twenty minutes before he started to get fussy again. Alex made the mistake of falling asleep for a short nap in the rocking chair and Emmett noticed the lack of movement and made sure to let his father know of his unhappiness. After looking at his watch and noting that Emmett wasn't due for another feeding for another twenty minutes, Alex decided to go back to pacing with him in the nursery. He didn't want to have to wake Arizona up until it was necessary. She had more than earned her sleep.

Alex was lost in his own little world of watching his son sleep that he didn't notice the door to the nursery open and someone walk in or hear her walk up behind him.

"Hey Daddy," Meredith whispered as she came up behind Alex causing him to jump slightly.

"Hey," Alex glanced up at her as continued to bounce the baby in his arms. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"Late surgery. Aren't you going to introduce me?" Meredith questioned as she peered at the baby in Alex's arms. She had seen a picture of him that Alex had texted everyone but that was nothing like seeing Emmett in real life. She didn't think it was possible but she was sure that his cheeks were even chubbier in person than in the picture. The tiny baby was swaddled tightly in a blue blanket with a blue hat on his head with dark hair peeking out of it. He was starting to cry softly around the pacifier in his mouth.

Alex smiled and shifted Emmett so that he was holding him higher in his arms. "Emmett this is Auntie Meredith. She is who you will go to in your angsty teen years to teach you how to be depressed all the time." Alex glanced up at his friend, "Do you want to hold him?"

Meredith nodded and put her hands out to take Emmett into her arms. "I know you guys didn't want visitors until tomorrow but I thought I'd take a chance and see if he was in the nursery before I went home."

"We're letting Arizona get some sleep."

"You're very handsome, aren't you?" Meredith told the baby in her arms as she tried to settle him back down after the transfer. "I think I'm going to have to keep my daughter away from you."

"Your daughter would be the cougar in that case," Alex informed his friend as he watched on.

"Oh please," Meredith rolled her eyes and continued to coo at the baby for a few more moments. "Congratulations, Alex," she held Emmett out for Alex to take him back. "You did good."

Alex glanced down at the baby in his arms and played with his fingers, "Yeah, I did."

"I'll come bring by some obnoxiously large stuffed animal and have a proper visit tomorrow."

"See you later," Alex said as he finally took his eyes off of his son for a brief moment only to look right back at him. "Say bye-bye to Auntie Meredith, Emmett."

"Bye Emmett," Meredith smiled before leaving the nursery.

All of the shifting and talking had officially woken Emmett up. He spit out his pacifier and started wailing. Alex could feel the sharp glare from the nurse on duty and decided to get out of the nursery before he got into trouble. He often had to work in the nursery and did not need the nurses hating him. It was almost time for Emmett to be fed again anyway so Alex put Emmett back into his bassinet, per hospital instructions about transporting newborns, and wheeled him back toward Arizona's hospital room.

**…**

On his first full day in the world Emmett got to meet almost everyone in the Seattle Grace – Mercy West hospital family. The hospital room was almost always full of people stopping by to see the newest member of the family. Emmett did well for being constantly passed around from person to person. Everyone brought gifts for the newborn and the parents. They lavished praise about how cute he was and how he looked so much like one or the other of his parents. It was nice to have everyone visit but Alex was actually happy when Emmett got fussy because it was an easy way to empty out the room and give him and Arizona some alone time with him again. By dinner time not only had everyone had time to meet the littlest Karev but since Emmett was now twenty-four hours old, and his mother was given a clean bill of health, he was allowed to go home.

"Shouldn't we have to take a test or something to bring him home?" Alex asked Arizona as he watched her change Emmett into his going home outfit, a set of striped pajamas from his cousin Lily. They wanted to be able to send her a picture of him in the outfit that she picked out especially for her baby cousin when she visited for the wedding. The two and a half year old was very upset that she wasn't going to get to meet her cousin until Thanksgiving and Arizona hoped that this would make her feel a little bit better and stop the meltdown that Amber had said that the little toddler was on the verge of having.

Arizona laughed and put Emmett in his car seat so she could start to pack up their things, "I think you and I have seen more than enough parents in our line of work that definitely did not pass a test to bring their children home. Plus, if there was a test, I'm pretty sure that two pediatric surgeons would pass with flying colors."

Alex joined Arizona in helping to pick up their hospital room. He had already taken most of the gifts that they had accumulated down to the car but they still had more things in the room then they came in with the day before. Alex wanted to be ready to go as soon as the doctor came in with their discharge papers. He knew that Arizona was putting on a brave face but she was still in some pain from the delivery and he wanted to take her home where she would be most comfortable. "I don't know," Alex mused as he stuffed a teddy bear into a bag. "I've never really taken care of a baby. At work I just hold them and fix them. I know how to keep them alive but I don't really take care of them. Amber was five when I had to start taking care of her so that is no help with a newborn."

Emmett started crying and Alex immediately stopped what he was doing and reached out to pick him up from his car seat. Alex cradled the baby in his arms and started humming to try to soothe his tears.

"You're doing great, babe," Arizona walked up behind Alex and wrapped her hands around his waist as she nuzzled her head into his back. She was really enjoying being able to snuggle close to her husband without a huge belly in the way. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his neck as she peered down and watched Emmett in his father's arms. She didn't know how he could think that he wouldn't know what to do with their son because he had great instincts. Emmett hadn't been crying for more than a fraction of a second when Alex's first response to hearing his son in distress was to try and make him feel better. If nothing else, she could see Alex having a problem with letting Emmett cry it out when it was time to teach him to soothe himself.

Alex turned around to look at Arizona. Emmett's cries weren't softening even after being held by his father. "I'm not so sure about that. He hates me, I think."

"He doesn't hate you," Arizona looked down at her baby boy, "You love Daddy, don't you Mett? Yes, you do."

Emmett gurgled and spit out some bubbles as he looked up at his father before continuing to cry.

"See," Arizona smiled. "He loves you."

"Spitting is a sign of love?"

"Yep," Arizona nodded.

Alex shifted Emmett in his arms so that he was holding him on his chest, against his shoulder. He hoped that a different position would help to soothe the baby, "I still don't think I'm very good at this."

Arizona reached down and picked up the pacifier that had fallen out of Emmett's mouth when he started crying. She leaned up to place a kiss on his tiny baby lips before putting a clean one back in his mouth, "I don't know what I'm doing either but we'll learn on the job. And the grandparents will be here in a couple of days and they will give us all of their wisdom. They did raise two babies that turned into pretty great adults, if I do say so myself, so they must know something about being a parent."

After a few moments, Emmett latched onto the pacifier and started sucking. With the melodic humming and back rubs from his father, he was starting to fade again.

Alex gently put Emmett back in the car seat so that they could continue getting ready to leave the hospital. "I'm just ready to get home," Alex sighed as he packed away the cords to his laptop.

"I might be able to help you out with that in exchange for some baby cuddles," Bailey spoke from the doorway and held up some papers. "Dr. Tracy gave me these when I bumped into her and told me to tell y'all to get lost."

Bailey handed the papers to Alex and moved to peer at the baby in the car seat. "May I?" she asked as she nodded at Emmett. She had been busy all day and had missed out on seeing the baby earlier in the day. Bailey might have a tough reputation but she was a sucker for babies.

"Of course, Miranda," Arizona smiled. "Just a warning that so far he's proving to be a very fussy baby."

"Good for you all that Aunt Miranda is not only a great surgeon but also a baby-whisperer," Bailey said as she scooped him up into her arms. She took Emmett's hand in hers as she cooed at him. "Where did you get these big chubby cheeks from, Mr. Emmett?"

"That would be a Robbins trait," Arizona answered and pointed to her own cheeks.

Alex agreed, "Dan sent a picture of baby Arizona yesterday and Emmett is like an exact replica."

Bailey trailed her finger down Emmett's nose, "He's got a lot of Karev in him too. I can see it." Bailey watched as the baby let out a yawn that caused him to lose his pacifier. Bailey caught it before it dropped to the floor but he was already fast asleep before she could give it back to him. "And now he's asleep so I'm going to give him back and let you guys get home."

Arizona reached out to accept the baby from Bailey.

"Don't be a stranger around here, little man," Bailey said as she handed Emmett over to his mother. "Congratulations you two. Enjoy him being this small because before you know it he's going to be in school and too big to cuddle with his parents."

"Thanks Bailey," Alex smiled as she patted him on the back. It was the closest Bailey ever got to a hug.

When Alex turned back around Arizona had Emmett strapped into his car seat and had their bags in her hands.

"Ready to go?" she asked excitedly. She was more than ready to get home. She was still slightly uncomfortable after giving birth and was looking forward to being able to relax and recover at home in her own comfortable surroundings.

Alex shook his head negatively, "Not yet."

"Why?" Arizona frowned as Alex left the hospital room without giving her an explanation.

Alex returned a minute later with a wheelchair, "Now we're ready."

"Alex," Arizona whined.

Alex patted the back of the wheelchair, "Hospital rules, babe. Now get your fine a…" Alex started to say ass before he realized that he needed to start watching his language with a baby in the house and corrected himself. "Fine behind in the chair."

Arizona huffed but eventually settled into the wheelchair with Emmett in his car seat on her lap while Alex grabbed the bags and pushed her out of the hospital. He was nervous and excited to take his son home for the very first time.

**…**

When Arizona carried Emmett into the house and Alex shut the door behind him the house that they had been living in for the last two and a half years suddenly felt very different. It felt complete.

Emmett was still zonked out from Bailey's magic touch and the car ride home so after giving the baby a quick tour of his new home Arizona took advantage of the free time to take a bath. Even though she had showered at the hospital she still felt disgusting. She had learned the day before that everyone lies about what giving birth is like. They lie because if they told the truth then no one would want to have babies. It is not magical and beautiful. It is sweaty and dirty and very painful. It is worth the prize at the end but nothing about giving birth is a miraculous event; it is hard work on top of more hard work. And Arizona earned a long, hot bath.

After she realized she was starting to prune, Arizona figured it was probably time to get out of the tub and go see what her boys were up to. Emmett was probably wanting to be fed and Alex couldn't help with that. Arizona smiled when she realized that Alex had placed her very favorite and most comfortable pajamas on the bathroom counter for her to put on after her relaxing bath.

When Arizona stepped out of the bathroom and into the master bedroom she couldn't help but smile. What she saw was what she had been looking forward to all pregnancy – seeing her husband and their baby together. There were very few things better than a man and his baby together. The contrast between the strong father and the vulnerable baby was amazing to watch. Alex was lying on the bed, propped up by pillows, with Emmett resting on his chest as Arizona exited the bathroom. Emmett looked so very small as he slept on top of his father. Arizona could see Alex's mouth moving but couldn't hear what he was saying to Emmett as he stroked the baby's back softly. Arizona knew that this was a sight that she was going to see all the time in her future but she still took a few minutes to enjoy it before breaking up the moment.

"Hey," Alex smiled into Emmett's head as Arizona slipped into bed next to them.

"I'm surprised he's still sleeping," Arizona commented as she kissed the top of the baby's head.

"Me too, but lesson one is to not wake a sleeping baby so I'm not moving."

"It's pretty crazy seeing him sleeping on your stomach when he was just in mine barely a day ago," Arizona nuzzled into Alex's side content to watch their baby sleep.

Alex leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Arizona's head and grinned at her, "This is pretty great isn't it?"

Arizona pushed up on her side to capture Alex's lips in a steamy kiss. "It's perfect."

Arizona stole one more kiss before going back to her spot curled into Alex's side with her hand replacing Alex's as the one running up and down Emmett's back. They sat together quietly for a few minutes and just watched him. Even just sleeping he was miraculous.

"I was so scared when I saw the cord around his neck," Alex whispered into the silent bedroom. They hadn't talked about the birth except for Alex's brief explanation about why their son needed oxygen right after he was born.

"I'm sure," Arizona said quietly. She had spoken with Dr. Tracy about what happened while Alex was overseeing Emmett's circumcision in the nursery earlier in the day. After hearing the details she knew that Alex must have been traumatized by the birth. She would have been too if she had known what was going on but since she didn't know when it was all happening she wasn't going to let it upset her now that she did. Everything had worked out in the end.

"My mind immediately went to the worst," Alex instinctively leaned down to kiss the top of Emmett's mop of brown hair. He didn't need to verbalize what the worst was. Both he and Arizona knew what it was.

Arizona looked up so that she could look Alex in the eyes but he didn't take his eyes off of the baby on his chest, "But that didn't happen. He's here and we're all home together. And he even snores a little like you. I think it's because he has your nose."

Alex finally looked up to Arizona with a few tears in his eyes, "I know that. I do. It's just going to take some time to get that image out of my head."

As if on cue Emmett woke up and started whimpering. Even Emmett wanted to remind his father that he was perfectly okay despite a traumatic birth. Maybe that was why he had been so fussy – to remind them that he was okay. Alex knew that the baby needed to eat so he scooted up into a sitting position so that he could pass him off to his mother.

Arizona pulled down her shirt and positioned Emmett in her arms so that he could latch onto her breast. After a minute of flailing and trying to find the right position he finally started eating. From her position she had the perfect view of Emmett's sweet face. "Come here," she motioned with her free hand at her husband.

Alex did as he was told and shifted in bed so that he was right next to Arizona. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to get as close as possible without disrupting feeding time. From his position he could see exactly what Arizona could see.

"Just look at that face," Arizona told her husband as they both looked at the little boy who had one eye peeked open staring upward at them while he worked hard at eating. "Just think of that face when that bad memory comes up."

Alex smirked as he kissed Arizona's shoulder before leaning his head on it, "I can do that. Two of my favorite things. Your boobs and my baby boy."

"Our baby boy," Arizona corrected him.

"Our baby boy," Alex repeated back to Arizona as he leaned up to grab a kiss from her.

He spent the next few minutes watching Emmett eat as he tried to replace the image of Emmett's umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck as he was being born. Once he was satisfied that he had at least forgotten the image for the rest of the night he turned the topic to something that he had been curious about for the last day. "So that…" Alex nodded at Emmett breastfeeding. "Does it hurt? It's got to hurt."

"Breastfeeding?" Arizona looked up to Alex for clarification.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"It's more of a strange feeling than painful. At least for right now," Arizona explained. "We're lucky that Emmett seems to have figured it out quickly because I've heard horror stories. Most babies take at least a few days if not weeks to get the hang of it."

"You hear that, Bear? You're a genius already and you're only one day old," Alex told his son.

"He is. And he's all done. Now he just needs to be burped and changed before being put to bed. Then maybe we should try and get some sleep before we have to do this all over again," Arizona suggested as Emmett pushed away from her breast.

"Sounds like a plan," Alex lifted the baby out of Arizona's arms to take care of the dirty work. She dealt with labor, the least he could do was change diapers.

The first night home for the new family of three was about what Alex and Arizona expected with a newborn. Emmett maintained his status as a fussy baby. Alex had worried that Arizona was going to spend the night hovering over Emmett's bassinet in their bedroom, just checking to see if he was still breathing but Emmett didn't give them enough time to worry if he was still breathing. He woke up every sixty to ninety minutes like clockwork demanding to be fed or changed. They were certainly going to have bags under their eyes the next day but it was still a perfect first night at home with their son.

**…**

"Why are you so fussy, baby?" Arizona asked as was feeding Emmett she sat in the rocking chair in the nursery. Arizona loved the nursery. They had decorated it in a neutral color theme of grey and pale yellow but once Emmett was born, she immediately ordered everything off of her boy nursery list and had it overnighted so that the room would be perfect when he got home. The items were mainly just blue and green accent pieces but they definitely made the room scream boy. But since Emmett was residing in his bassinet in the master bedroom because of his demanding feeding schedule, the only time Arizona even really went into the nursery was when they needed clothes or diapers for him so she made a point to enjoy the few minutes a day that she did get to spend in it. Emmett continued to be fussy even as he was eating as he constantly stopped to whine before going back to eating, "Was it so nice in my tummy that it's just _that_ horrible to be here on the outside with me and Daddy?"

Arizona looked at him like she was expecting an answer but he just blinked up at her as he continued to eat. She had been alone with him for a little over an hour and she was already talking to her newborn like he was going to answer her back.

Arizona continued rocking, "If you keep crying all the time, you're going to start giving me a complex, Mett. Am I just not good at this mommy stuff?" Arizona paused and thought for a moment, "You know for the longest time I never wanted to be a mommy. I'm not really sure why I didn't because you are just the best thing ever. Like better than anything I ever imagined. I think at first I didn't want babies because you guys seriously take over everything in life. I mean, I can't even take a shower now without planning it into my day. And then I see a lot of very sick babies at work and that is scary. Very scary because I don't know how to handle losing a baby of my own especially when I barely survived losing your Uncle Tim. But you know what Emmett, you are worth it. You are worth having to schedule a five minute shower between feedings and naptimes. And while I really, _really _hope that you never get so very sick that you have to go to the hospital and see my friends – but if you do, just know that I would rather have one minute of you in my life than never to have had you at all. Even if you do cry way more than the average baby. And I spend a lot of time with babies. It's just because you have a lot to say, right? I bet once you start talking we're never going to be able to get you to stop. That's okay because I talk a lot too. Maybe you get that from me."

Emmett answered her rambling with a loud cry signaling that he was done with his snack.

"Are you all filled up?" Arizona lifted him up onto her shoulder so she could burp him.

"What do you want to wear today, handsome?" Arizona continued to talk to him as she went through a drawer of clothes. "The green one with the frogs? Or the blue one with the sharks?" She paused and held the choices up for Emmett to see. He flailed a hand at the frogs it wildly. "Excellent choice. Green is a great color on you."

Arizona proceeded to change Emmett and continue to talk to him like he could understand her. She had just lifted him up off of the changing table when she heard voices coming from downstairs.

"Okay Emmett, it's time to prepare yourself," Arizona told her son seriously as she kissed his forehead. "You have about thirty seconds before a crazy lady comes in here and rips you from my arms and proceeds to kiss every inch of your face. And then when she's done, a very serious looking guy with grey hair will proceed to do the same. It might seem scary but they're your grandparents and they love you so much that they can't control themselves –."

"Oh my goodness!" Barbara squealed from the doorway to the nursery. She covered her mouth with her hands as she saw her grandson for the first time.

"Right on cue," Arizona whispered to her baby.

Daniel and Alex arrived in the doorway a few seconds after Barbara. She had clearly raced upstairs to make sure that she got to the baby first. Both men had proud looks on their faces as they looked at Emmett.

After pausing for a moment to stare, Barbara quickly covered the distance between herself and her grandson and stared at him in wonder as Arizona held him out to her.

"Emmett, this is the crazy old lady I was telling you about. But you can just call her Nana," Arizona introduced her son to his grandmother.

After spending some time with Lily during the wedding weekend and having her call them grandma and grandpa, Barbara quickly decided that she was not a grandma. She felt that at sixty she was far too young to be called grandma. Grandma reminded her of a really old person and she was nowhere near really old. In the end, she decided (for herself and for Daniel) that they would use the names that Arizona and Timothy used for her parents – Nana and Papa.

Barbara cradled Emmett in her arms like she had been doing it for years. Her eyes misted over as she took in every inch of his face. She leaned down and breathed in the smell that she loved the most – new baby; it was way better than new car smell. Then she did exactly as Arizona predicted. She kissed every inch of his face. "He's perfect," she declared after she finished showering him with love. "Just perfect. I'm never letting him go."

"Maybe I could get him for a second before you go and do that?" Daniel asked. He had come up next to Barbara when she was doing her inspection on her grandson. He knew that his wife had first dibs on getting to hold him first but after watching her hold him for a few minutes he was itching to get his hands on him too.

"Oh fine," Barbara said as she gave him one last kiss before passing him over. "But I get him right back."

"We're never going to hold him again," Arizona whined as she leaned back against Alex as they watched the scene unfold in the nursery.

"You'll get him back. You've got to feed him," Alex whispered in her ears as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm the one that will have to fight for time."

Alex and Arizona watched as Daniel got to meet his grandson for the first time. Emmett looked especially small in his Papa's big arms. He was a strong man but had the gentlest touch as he held the tiny baby. As they listened to Daniel introduce himself and tell Emmett just how much he looked like his Uncle Tim, Arizona couldn't help but start crying. Her hormones were still all over the place after delivery and the entire moment of her son meeting his grandparents for the first time was emotional enough let alone when her brother was mentioned. She hated knowing that her children would never get to know their amazing uncle.

Barbara's eyes also misted at the statement and one glance at her daughter showed her that Arizona was starting to fall apart. Alex instinctively stepped back as Barbara took her daughter in her arms and comforted her as she cried.

"I'm sorry," Arizona managed to get out as she grasped onto her mother. She hated to be the one that brought the happy moment down. "I don't mean to cry."

"Shh," Barbara shushed her daughter. "It's okay to be sad. It's okay to miss him."

Daniel walked over to the women and placed a kiss on his daughter's head. He had only had Emmett for a few minutes but he knew that his daughter needed to hold him to feel better. Babies were great for cheering people up. "Emmett is a very lucky boy because he has his own guardian angel looking out for him. And no one messes with a Marine so Tim isn't going to let anything happen to his nephew," Daniel told his daughter as she took her son into her arms.

Daniel wrapped his arm around his wife as he watched Alex do the same with Arizona. Daniel was right and holding onto Emmett helped to calm Arizona down. But as soon as Arizona's tears stopped, Emmett's started which caused the entire room to start laughing.

After Emmett broke the tension with his cries, they were able to get back to business which for the elder Robbins was taking care of their grandson. Their first priority was helping his parents get some much needed sleep. Before they even arrived, Barbara demanded that Arizona pump some milk so that Nana and Papa could take care of Emmett for a few hours without needing to bother his parents. After five days of running on little to no sleep, they deserved more than two hours of sleep in a row uninterrupted.

Arizona tried to tell her parents how to take care of Emmett but after one stern glare from her mother she shut up. Her parents had raised two babies; they did not need to be told how to take care of one for four hours. All they needed to know was where the supplies were at. Once they had that knowledge they shooed Alex and Arizona to their bedroom for some much needed sleep. While Barbara loved being able to help the new parents get some rest, her real motives were much more selfish. She wanted quality alone time with her grandson – even if she did have to share with her husband.

When Alex woke up a few hours later he found Barbara in the kitchen making dinner while Daniel was on the couch watching television as he held Emmett.

"I'm afraid that we might be spoiling him too much," Daniel said as he looked at the groggy baby in his arms. "We haven't put him down since we got here. He might never learn to sleep in his crib."

"Under six months old there is no such thing as too much holding," Alex explained like the pediatric surgeon that he was. He couldn't fault them for not putting him down. Alex would hold him constantly if he didn't have to fight with Arizona for time with him. The argument that she monopolized him for forty weeks during pregnancy didn't work to help get him extra cuddle time.

"Arizona's still sleeping?" Daniel asked, looking up from the baby.

Alex nodded as he played with Emmett's feet, "Yeah. She deserves it. She's worked hard this week. I don't think she's slept more than an hour at a time since he was born."

"It'll get better soon," Daniel sympathized. He knew the look that he saw on Alex and Arizona's faces. It was a look of utter defeat. The first week was always the hardest. Everyone was learning and adjusting to a new routine. But Emmett would soon start to go longer between feedings which would allow his parents to get some much needed rest.

"I hope so," Alex breathed out softly as he took a seat on the other side of the couch. It wasn't that he didn't love his son but being a new parent was tiring and overwhelming.

"I don't know what you two are talking about," Barbara said as she entered the living room and sat down next to her husband. "He has been an angel while you guys were sleeping. Not fussy at all."

"Figures," Alex muttered. "Already sucking up to the grandparents."

"Dinner will be ready soon. I hate to do it but you might want to wake Arizona up. Plus, Emmett will want to eat soon too," Barbara informed the boys.

"I'm up," Arizona said as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and fell onto the couch next to Alex. He immediately wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his arms. "Barely but I'm up. I think I was functioning better on no sleep than I am after a few hours."

As soon as Emmett heard his mom's voice he started whining. He knew that the person with that voice had the milk and he wanted the milk.

"Hey baby," Arizona whispered in a soft voice as she moved to hover over her son who was still crying in his grandfather's arms. "I'll just feed him now then we can eat," she said as she picked him up and headed upstairs for some privacy. Arizona knew that she was never going to be one of those moms that were comfortable breast feeding anywhere. She didn't even want her family around when she did it. It made her uncomfortable. She was fine with Alex being in the room but that was it. Even the nurses in the hospital made her feel uncomfortable. She was a prude and had no intentions of changing that. She knew she'd eventually have to do it in public but she would make sure she was appropriately covered when that had to happen. For now, she'd enjoy the quiet moments she got alone with her baby.

Barbara was just finishing putting dinner on the table when Arizona came back down with a well-fed and sleepy baby. She put him in a swing by the table so that she could enjoy eating a meal with both hands. Dinner conversation, no surprise, revolved around the baby. After dinner, Barbara gave the new parents an important lesson in baths. For the first few days at home, bath time had been terror time. As soon as his parents had him near the sink to bathe him, he started screeching at the top of his lungs. They knew that there had to be a better way of doing it that wouldn't traumatize them or the baby for the rest of their lives. With his Nana's gentle touch and helpful tips, Emmett was able to be bathed without screaming his head off. He wasn't thrilled with the bath but it wasn't the torture that he made it out to be before. The night finished with more cuddles and some stories read by Papa. By the end of the day all of the adults and the baby were exhausted. Arizona and Alex fell asleep knowing that they'd have to get up in a few hours and repeat the process all over again but at least for the next few days they had some backup to help.

The rest of the week with Barbara and Daniel went much like their first day. They spent their days getting to know their grandson while also helping to take some of the burden off of the new parents. They'd also give the new parents helpful tips and tricks that would make their life infinitely easier. Barbara and Daniel also made sure to give them their alone time with Emmett. They knew that this was an important period of bonding for them and they didn't want to be overbearing. It worked out well because they had another reason for visiting Seattle besides meeting their grandson – they were there to buy a house. After narrowing it down to two houses, Emmett, Arizona and Alex joined them on a tour of the final choices. When Emmett spit up on his grandfather while they were walking through the second house, they declared it to be the winner – after all, Emmett had spoken. And Emmett, as the prince of the family, had final say.

Even though Alex and Arizona knew that Barbara and Daniel would be back in a little over a month to finish the deal on the house as well as for Thanksgiving, they were still a little sad to see them return home to DC. They had been such a help during their five day visit that they knew it was going to be a shock going back to being on their own. Arizona was just grateful that Alex had another full week off of work before she was truly on her own during the days.

Her parents were right and as the days went on, parenting got easier every day. They learned the tricks to soothe their fussy baby and for his part, he started to sleep almost three full hours at night. He was still only napping for around two hours at a time during the day but the three hour spurt at night was vital for Alex and Arizona catching up on some much needed rest. Their days at home were very much run by routine. They revolved around feeding, changing diapers and napping with the occasional walk around the neighborhood or visit from friends.

Alex was constantly amazed at how quickly his life had changed in just a few short weeks. During a visit, Cristina couldn't help but point out that his life was like he was a medical school student again. He wasn't sleeping much, spent his days trying to figure out a new subject and wasn't getting any sex. Alex had to agree with her that it was a lot like med school. But med school didn't have Emmett. On the nights that Alex was the most exhausted and was starting to get cranky all he had to do was look at his wife as she cradled their baby against her chest and sang softly to him as she worked on getting the little boy to sleep. He'd gladly go without sleep and be cranky for them.

**…**


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: Some snapshots into life. Super long because I had to get this finished this week. Ending with a lot of fluff and cheesiness because that seems to be the only way I know how to end a story. More at the end. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and its characters are owned by ABC and not me.

**…**

It was a dreary day in Seattle. In the heart of October, the sun was officially gone for the rest of the year and the clouds and drizzle had started to set in. Arizona was sitting at the breakfast bar sipping on a cup of decaf coffee. She had Emmett in one arm and the front page of the Seattle Times in the other. She could hear the garage door open and then she heard Alex's car roar to life. After seventeen days of having someone home with her she was now doing it on her own. Of course she wasn't all alone. She had the tiny baby that was currently enjoying his morning nap in her arms. She was the sole person in charge of taking care of him for the next twelve hours and that was a daunting thought.

Arizona absolutely loved being a mom and she loved her son fiercely. But that didn't take away the fact that her son was not a perfect baby. He was nowhere near a perfect baby. Arizona claimed it was payback for the easy pregnancy she had with him while Alex claimed that he simply had inherited the Karev family's naturally unsunny disposition. Even their pediatrician admitted that Emmett was one of the surliest babies he had seen in a long time but he also reassured the parents that Emmett wasn't in any pain, he just liked to cry. Alex and Arizona just hoped that he would grow out of it but for now they were learning to deal with his constant crying and fussing and learning what would make him happy. Very few things were able to make Emmett happy as they found out over the last two weeks. Car rides, a stuffed dinosaur and The Beatles albums were the only things that seemed to be able to stop his tears. And listening to The Beatles while driving around the neighborhood while one of his parents waved the stuffed animal in his face would keep him happy for hours. But once he forgot about his happy time he went right back to being a sourpuss. It was difficult for the practically always happy Arizona to understand how someone could be so upset all the time.

"We can do this. Can't we, Mett? We're going to have a great day – just you and me." Arizona reaffirmed with the sleeping baby as she heard the garage door close, signaling that Alex was on his way to work and they would be all alone for the next twelve hours.

Arizona looked around the house and noticed the disarray that it had fallen into since the baby had been born. Cleaning up the kitchen just wasn't a priority anymore. During down times sleep or staring at a sleeping Emmett was the new priority. But as she saw the dishes piled up in the sink she knew she had to do something about it. Arizona moved slowly off of her barstool as she tried not to disrupt the sleeping baby. Gently she placed him in his swing and set it to a low vibration, hoping that it would remind him of the car and keep him fast asleep. Arizona held her breath as Emmett stirred slightly in the swing. After a moment, he let out a yawn and seemed to go back to sleep. Arizona let out the breath she had been holding and turned her attention to the mess in the kitchen. Just as she placed the first dish in the dishwasher, Emmett started to cry. Arizona quickly put the dish in and closed the dishwasher. The dishes could wait a little while longer.

"You don't care if the house stays messy, do you?" Arizona asked as she lifted Emmett out of the swing and rested him against her chest. As soon as he felt his mother pick him up his cries only got louder. She instantly felt the heaviness in his diaper. "Oh you have a reason to be upset now don't you, Emmett? Let's get upstairs and get you changed and then maybe we'll try this again."

After getting Emmett changed, she attempted to put him in the swing again so that she could get something accomplished for the day but again Emmett wasn't having any of it. He wanted to be held as he slept and the swing was no substitute for his mother's arms. After spending the first few hours of the morning lying on the couch while Emmett napped, a light bulb went off in Arizona's head and she came up with a perfect solution to Emmett being demanding and her desire to get some housework done. She just hoped it would work.

One hour later, with Emmett strapped to her chest, Arizona was finally able to see the countertops in the kitchen. She had the entire kitchen clean and didn't hear anything but the occasional gurgle from Emmett as he slept. She felt victorious as she surveyed her work. It was the small victories in life that made her the happiest and being able to clean and keep her baby happy was one of those. Arizona felt that she had more than earned the nap that she was going to go try and take after Emmett's next feeding.

**…**

Alex loved his job as a surgeon. He loved the rush he got in the operating room as he was able to fix someone. The intensity and pressure that came with surgery gave him a natural high and when he went too long without a surgery he would get an itch that demanded that he get back into the operating room as soon as possible. He thought that after over two weeks without surgery that he would be dying to get back in the operating room but for the first time since he began his internship he didn't want to be in the OR. He wanted to be at home with his family, not scrubbing in for surgery.

"You're going to scrub the skin right off your hands if you keep doing that," Cristina broke Alex out of his daze.

Alex's eyes snapped to Cristina and he realized that he had been scrubbing the same hand for the last five minutes. "You're in on this too?" Alex asked when Cristina started scrubbing in too. "Isn't this below your normal standards?"

"A valve replacement is but a valve replacement on an eight year old can be pretty cool. Plus, I had nothing else going on this morning." Cristina pushed the door open to the operating room, "I'm surprised you are jumping back in with this and not some lame appendicitis or something."

"I've been gone two weeks. I think I can handle this," Alex glared, rejecting any notion that his skills had degenerated.

Once in the operating room, Alex and Cristina went about making sure everything was good to go for their surgery. Once all of the nurses and the rest of the staff had arrived they were ready to begin the four hour long surgery.

"So how's the brat?" Cristina asked once they had the chest cracked and they were into what she considered the boring part of the surgery. She had to admit that she liked the kid but didn't want to let anyone know that she had a genuine fondness for the baby so she had to keep up appearances of being a baby hater in front of others.

"He's great," Alex said under his mask. Cristina couldn't see his mouth but everyone in the room knew that Alex was smiling. They could hear it in his voice. Alex glanced up and noted the time, "He smiled in his sleep yesterday. I'm pretty sure I saw a dimple on his right cheek."

"He did not smile. He's barely two weeks old. It was just gas," Cristina looked up and rolled her eyes.

Alex raised his eyes at his friend across the table, "Who's the _pediatric_ surgeon here? He did smile. And he's lifting his head a lot too. He's already advanced on the milestones."

"Your kid's the smartest, the best, blah, blah," Cristina interrupted Alex before he could continue to talk about how great his two week old baby was.

It was Alex's turn to roll his eyes. "Okay, fine. No more baby talk. I'll remember that when you want something from me."

The conversation switched from babies to the gossip that Alex had missed over the last two weeks while he was at home. The drama that the interns could get themselves into never ceased to amaze him. Before he knew it the surgery was over and he and Cristina left the OR while their residents closed up. Alex noticed the time while scrubbing out and realized that if he hurried he could squeeze in a quick video call home before Emmett would be going down for a nap. Never in his life did he ever think that he would be using his free time at work to be able to spend five minutes making funny faces at his baby over the telephone but a lot had changed in Alex's life in the past year.

"You coming to lunch?" Cristina asked as they headed out of the scrub room and into the busy hallway.

Alex was busy looking at his phone while they walked down the hallway toward the nurses' station where they needed to deposit their patient's chart. He knew the route by heart. "No, I'm going to FaceTime Arizona and check in. See how she's surviving her first day all alone with Emmett."

"I don't think you'll need to call her," Cristina stated as she could see a very familiar blonde haired woman standing at the nurses' station.

Alex who still had his head down in his phone couldn't see what Cristina was seeing. Instead he just thought that Cristina was continuing with her anti-baby ways like she was in the OR. "Uhhh, yeah I do. This is the first time I've been away from my kid for this long since he was born. I kind of want to see him for a few minutes."

"No, I mean you don't need to call her because she's here," Cristina nudged Alex in the arm causing him to look up as she pointed toward Arizona who was laughing with a nurse as the nurse was peering at the tiny baby in the car seat.

Alex's mouth dropped open when he saw Arizona standing there and he immediately quickened his pace to get to her. They had talked about her coming to visit him at work but decided against it because Arizona would be in with Emmett the next day for a pediatrician's appointment so she would just visit then.

Arizona flashed Alex a bright smile when she realized that Alex was coming toward her.

"What are you two doing here?" Alex asked as he leaned in to kiss her hello. After pulling out of the kiss, he immediately unlatched Emmett from the car seat and lifted him into his arms. "Hey Bear," he greeted his son.

"Well, we were at home and after a busy morning of napping and cleaning the kitchen _someone_ started crying and wouldn't stop. After a half hour, I figured we'd go for a drive to help calm him down and since we were going to be in the car – why not come say hi and see if you were free for lunch," Arizona explained.

Alex bounced Emmett in his arms as he kissed the top of his head, "I thought we talked about this this morning, Bear. You were supposed to be good for Mommy today."

"I think he just missed you," Arizona smiled and rubbed the top of the baby's head and mussed up his hair. "We both did. Right, Mett?"

"Is that right?" Alex winked at his wife before leaning down to rub his nose against his son's. "Did you miss me, buddy? I missed you."

Cristina who had been finishing up her notes in the chart decided she had to stop this conversation before it got too mushy. She walked over to Alex and grabbed Emmett by his sides as she lifted him out of his father's arms and tucked him into the crook of her arm as she started walking down the hall toward the elevator.

"Hey!" Alex called after his friend. "What are you doing?"

"You just can't take him like that!" Arizona yelled down the hall.

"We're going to the cafeteria. Someone needs to show him how to be a badass!" Cristina turned around and informed the baby's parents before continuing down the hall.

Alex and Arizona stood stunned at the nurses' station. They really didn't know what just happened. Arizona brought Emmett to the hospital to have a quick lunch with Alex before his next surgery and somehow Emmett ended up in Cristina's arms. They weren't really worried as Cristina had been one of the more frequent visitors to their home after he was born.

"Cristina Yang just stole our baby," Arizona said flatly as they watched Cristina disappear into the elevator at the end of the hall.

Alex tugged on Arizona's arm and grabbed the empty car seat, "Let's go get him before she decides to sell him or trade him for a piece of cake or worse – a surgery."

**…**

Cristina almost instantly regretted her decision to rescue Emmett from his parents. After the baby realized that he was no longer in the familiar arms of his father, he started crying and nothing Cristina could do would get him to stop. She had spent more than a few hours with Emmett before but it was always with one of his parents hovering nearby so that she could give him back when he started to get cranky. But she walked him away from his parents so she was all alone with a baby whose cries were quickly turning into screams.

Once she finally made it to the cafeteria, Cristina was happy to find that there were at least a couple of people who knew what to do with babies there.

"Here. Take him. Make him stop crying," Cristina said as she practically shoved the baby in Meredith's arms. Cristina figured that as a mother Meredith would be able to get the baby to be quiet.

Callie's eyebrows rose as she sat across the table, "Is that Arizona's baby?" Callie was pretty sure that was Emmett but she hadn't seen him since the day after he had been born so she couldn't be one hundred percent sure.

Cristina nodded as she watched Meredith attempt to calm the baby down.

"And does she know that you have him?" Callie continued to question. It seemed odd to her that Yang just showed up in the cafeteria with the baby in her arms without one of his parents around.

"No, I kidnapped him," Cristina said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes and stole a plate of fries from Meredith's tray. "They were being all sappy upstairs so someone had to save the baby from witnessing that crap."

"You just took him from his parents?" Meredith asked shocked as she was finally able to calm Emmett's screams to more tepid whimpers.

Cristina bit down on a fry, "Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm sure they'll be here any second. They were right on my heels."

After having a longer than usual wait for the elevator, Alex and Arizona arrived in the cafeteria. Once they saw that Emmett was safely in Meredith's arms they decided to go ahead and get some food before they got distracted talking with their friends. While picking out their food they bumped into Teddy who was surprised to see Arizona at work but thrilled because that meant that she got some Emmett time. The three paid for their food and made their way toward the table. Instead of focusing on her food, Teddy immediately demanded the baby from Meredith.

"You're getting so big," Teddy cooed at the baby.

Arizona chuckled, "He's only gained like a five ounces if that since you saw him last week, Teds. Hardly getting big."

"He'll be walking before you know it," Meredith added wistfully. Babies grew up fast and she wished that her own baby would slow it down.

Alex and Arizona silently agreed with Meredith. Emmett was only seventeen days old but it still felt like he had just been born. He was already growing up much faster than they wanted him to.

"I can't believe it's only been a little over two weeks because you look amazing, Arizona," Teddy complimented her friend.

Arizona almost choked on her salad. She felt like she looked anything but amazing. "Please," Arizona rolled her eyes. "I barely brushed my hair this morning. I probably have some spit up in it somewhere."

"You're always beautiful," Alex said as he kissed her cheek.

"Suck up," Cristina fake coughed into her hand.

Teddy laughed at Cristina. "I'm serious. You look really good."

"I'd never guess you just had a baby," Callie agreed with Teddy.

Arizona blushed at the attention, "Well, thank you. But I think that dropping the pounds is all Emmett's doing. He's literally sucking the weight right off of me. Knowing that feeding him helps with weight loss makes me less grumpy with not sleeping more than two hours at a time these days."

"He's not going any longer yet?" Teddy questioned as she took a bite of an apple while continuing to hold Emmett in the other arm.

"For a few days last week he went about three hours but now he's back to every two," Alex answered as he finished his lunch. He rushed through eating so that he could get his hands back on his son. Arizona did bring Emmett to the hospital to see him after all; he was going to get his baby time in before he had to go back to work.

"Sounds like way too much work," Cristina said honestly. She knew that she was too much of a selfish person to be a mother. She could do it but she didn't want to do it.

"But look at that little face," Teddy said in a baby voice as she cooed at Emmett.

Cristina shrugged, "Doesn't do anything for me."

"Well, it does for me," Alex said as he gestured for Teddy to pass the boy over.

Almost as soon as Alex got Emmett settled in his arms his pager went off.

"No, no, no," Alex protested as he ripped the pager off of his hip and brought it up so that he could read it. All he wanted was to spend the next fifteen minutes enjoying some time with his son but the demands of being a doctor were going to make that impossible. "I've gotta go," he sighed sadly as he leaned down to get one last whiff of his baby before kissing him softly.

Arizona pouted at her lunch with her husband being interrupted but she understood.

Alex gently laid a sleepy Emmett in Arizona's arms as he stood up to leave. "I should be home by seven," Alex said softly as he leaned down to kiss his wife goodbye. "Love you," he said before kissing her one more time. He then focused his attention on his son who was staring up at him from his mother's arms with wide blue eyes. Alex tickled Emmett's belly with one finger, "Be good for Mommy, Emmett. I'll see you for bath time. Love you too, little dude."

"Bye," Arizona smiled before Alex left to go see what his page was all about.

"Later everyone," Alex told the group and received a chorus of goodbyes as he walked out of the cafeteria.

"You really don't miss surgery?" Cristina asked Arizona after watching as Arizona didn't even question Alex what his page was about. Cristina knew if she had been away from work for over three weeks she would have been pouncing to take over someone else's page even if she was still on vacation.

"I'm too exhausted to even think about work right now," Arizona answered honestly. "But if you mean - am I going to quit my job and be a stay-at-home mom? No, but that doesn't mean that it isn't going to be heartbreaking to leave Emmett in daycare when the time comes in another month."

"That's why hospital daycare is so great," Meredith spoke from experience. "You'll be able to see him anytime you have some free time from work. It's perfect."

"Speaking of work. I need to get back," Teddy announced to the table.

A chorus of me too's came from the rest of her dining companions. Everyone stood up and got ready to go back to work. Arizona situated Emmett back in his car seat. It was time for them to get home as well. Even a short outing for a newborn was the equivalent of a full day of sightseeing for an adult.

Somehow Arizona and Callie managed to be the only ones on the elevator to the bottom level of the hospital. Arizona was heading to the parking lot and Callie was in charge of the pit that day. Arizona leaned her head against the back of the elevator wall and rested her eyes as she waited for the elevator to move. She really hoped that Emmett would let her get a nap in when they got home.

"He looks really good… I mean healthy… I mean cute," Callie's voice broke Arizona out of her quiet moment.

Arizona looked at her ex-girlfriend curiously and raised her eyebrows. She wasn't sure what Callie was trying to say and she was sure Callie didn't either.

Callie sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "I mean, I don't know. What is the appropriate thing to say to your ex-girlfriend that you're still friends with, who is now married to a man and just had a baby? But he's cute. Really cute. How could he not be – he looks like you."

"Thanks," Arizona said quickly hoping to stop Callie's rambling. "He is pretty great."

"You're a really great mom. I always knew you would be."

"Thank you. Most days it doesn't feel like it. It's pretty much kicking my butt."

The elevator dinged signaling their arrival on the ground floor. "I think Emmett and Alex would say otherwise and that's all that matters," Callie smiled and gestured her arm out for Arizona to exit the elevator first.

Arizona paused and waited for Callie to catch up since they were both headed toward the same direction.

"I'm glad I got you alone," Callie continued talking as they walked. "I wanted to tell you that I took your advice."

Arizona again raised her eyebrows at Callie. She had no idea what Callie was talking about. "What advice would that be?"

"That I'm worth more than friends with benefits. Mark and I are officially trying to be a real couple or something like that. I'm not sure how well it's going to work but there's only one way to find out, right?"

Arizona sent Callie a big smile, "That's great. I hope it works out for you two." Arizona put the car seat carrier down on the floor and reached out to pull Callie into a friendly hug. "Though if he doesn't treat you right, I'll kick him in the balls."

Callie laughed and pulled out of the hug. "I think he'll always be afraid of you so I'll let him know."

Emmett had started to whine when the walking movement stopped and he was put down on the floor.

"Good," Arizona laughed with her before picking the car seat carrier back up. "Okay, Emmett, we're going home now so you can stop the tears."

"See you later," Callie said goodbye and held the door open for Arizona.

"Bye," Arizona waved before digging through her purse turned diaper bag for the keys to the car.

By the time Arizona arrived home, Emmett had fallen back to sleep thanks to the power of a car ride. Arizona immediately wanted to fall onto the couch and nap with him but she knew that he was going to wake up from hunger in about twenty minutes so there was no point to trying to sleep.

After their trip to the hospital, Arizona's day went just like every other day except for this time she didn't have Alex to tag into the match to allow her to have an hour or two of rest. By the time Alex got home, she was exhausted. Alex was more than willing to take over taking care of Emmett when he got home. He had missed the little boy all day while he was at work. He often found himself wondering throughout the day what Emmett and Arizona were up to. Over the last two weeks he had been used to spending his entire day with the baby so going from all day to just a few hours at night was a big shock for him. He was more than happy to send Arizona up to bed for some sleep after they had dinner together. He enjoyed several hours of father-son bonding before it was time to put Emmett down and crawl into bed with Arizona before they had to start the day all over again.

**…**

Weeks flew by with a newborn in the house and before his parents knew it, Emmett was one month old. Arizona still had another ten days before she had to go to work but because it was Emmett's one month birthday she again found herself at the hospital; Emmett had his one-month check up with their pediatrician whose office was attached to the hospital.

Alex had promised to be at the appointment but both he and Arizona knew that if there was an emergency at work he wouldn't be able to get away. He really wanted to be there because it was the first appointment that Emmett would be getting a shot at and Alex knew that Arizona would probably need the added moral support while she had to watch their baby be stung by the needle.

Emmett was called back to his appointment right on time and Alex still hadn't arrived at the doctor's office. Arizona had given up hope on him making it while she waited for their pediatrician, Dr. Greg Vaugh, to show up in the exam room. Arizona was seated in a chair with Emmett wrapped up in a blanket in her arms. The baby nestled into his mother's arms as he was chilly sitting in the exam room in nothing but a diaper.

Arizona straightened up when she heard footsteps stop outside of the door and it started to open. She assumed it was Dr. Vaughn arriving for the appointment but was pleasantly surprised when Alex walked into the room.

"I didn't think you were going to make it," Arizona grinned as Alex made his way toward them and lifted Emmett out of her arms.

"My residents did everything possible to try to keep me from getting here but I didn't want to miss it," Alex said as he took a seat next to Arizona. "How was your morning?"

"The usual," Arizona answered. "He ate, pooped, slept, and cried. Then repeated it all over again. He also did some tummy time which caused a lot of crying as usual."

"Gotta get your neck muscles strong, Bear," Alex told the boy in his arms who simply yawned at him in response.

While she watched Alex spend some quality time with Emmett she finally noticed his outfit. He wasn't dressed in his normal scrubs. He was in a pair of dress pants, a button up shirt with a loosely knotted tie and he was wearing his glasses. Arizona could count the times on one hand over the past three years that she had seen him in his glasses. "What exactly are you wearing, Alex? And the glasses?"

"I know you didn't forget about Halloween since we just talked about it last night."

"No, I remember which is why I have an eye patch in my purse to throw on for a pirate look for the ped's party. I just don't get what you're supposed to be."

Alex shifted Emmett into his left arm and used his right arm to unbutton the top of his shirt. When he got enough buttons undone he pulled the shirt apart so that Arizona could see what was underneath. It was a bright blue shirt with the superman logo on it. Arizona slowly put the pieces together. Dress shirt with superman costume underneath it. Glasses. "Clark Kent," she concluded.

"Yep. Superman is only the best superhero ever," Alex said more to Emmett than to Arizona. He wanted to pass on his love of Superman to his son.

"Very creative," Arizona nodded her approval. "I like it. But I doubt any of the kids really know who he is. Isn't Iron Man or Spiderman the big one these days?

Alex immediately put ear muffs over his son's tiny ears, "Blasphemous. Superman is the best. He can fly, has x-ray vision and can stop bullets." Alex didn't know what to do if Emmett turned into a Spiderman or even worse - a Batman fan. Superman was on a whole other level than those superheroes.

Arizona didn't try to argue. She didn't have a dog in that fight. She only knew what she learned from movies about the superheroes and even then she tended to fall asleep during those movies.

After another few minutes the pediatrician arrived and began his exam. After performing a routine physical exam, Emmett was declared to be in great physical health. The next part of the appointment was more for the parents than for Emmett as he had a lot of questions about Emmett's development that focused on hitting certain milestones. Emmett was already advanced in that he was holding his head up and turning it for short periods of time. Dr. Vaughn knew that with two pediatric surgeons for parents that they knew what to look for developmentally and would know if there was anything that he needed to be alerted to with Emmett's development. The only thing out of the ordinary was that he was a colicky baby. Dr. Vaughn reassured the parents that Emmett would probably grow out of it around three to four months so they just needed to hang in there a little while longer. Once the doctor was done, a nurse came in to weigh and measure Emmett's growth. He was deemed to be a banana baby because he was long and lean. He was in the ninetieth percentile for height and hovering around the fiftieth percentile for weight. The only thing left to do was give him his hepatitis B shot. Arizona had been dreading this for a week. Seeing someone purposefully hurting her baby, even if it was for his own good, was upsetting. Arizona forced Alex to be the one to hold Emmett while he got his shot. She couldn't be involved in it at all. She couldn't even watch. She was still facing the window when Alex tapped her shoulder.

"Babe," he said trying to get her attention.

Arizona slowly turned around and saw Alex trying to wrangle Emmett's restless legs into his own Halloween costume, a bear outfit.

"They did it already?" Arizona asked shocked but knew that if Alex was dressing Emmett that it had to be all over.

"Yeah," Alex smiled.

"Our baby who cries when he sneezes didn't cry at all?"

"Nope," Alex laughed as he zipped up the outfit. "You were more upset than he was."

"Well aren't you surprising, Emmett."

Alex hitched Emmett up so that he was leaning against his chest. "Strong boy we have here."

"And oh so cute in your costume," Arizona nuzzled the baby's nose with her own.

Alex rested his hand on the back of Emmett's head for support as they walked out of the doctor's office and toward the main hospital. "And very fitting that our Bear is a bear for his first Halloween."

"And to think that this time last year you said that 'Karev's don't do cute and cuddly,'" Arizona teased her husband.

"He's a black bear. Very dangerous. Neither cute nor cuddly," Alex retorted.

"Whatever you say," Arizona placated him with a peck on his lips. She could have reminded him of the almost girlish squeal he let out when Arizona showed him the bear costume that she had found online. She could have also reminded him that one of his arguments for the costume was just how cute Emmett would look in it. But she didn't. She knew that Alex knew that Emmett was totally cute and cuddly; she didn't need to hear him say it.

Since Emmett's appointment ran late by the time they made it up to the annual Halloween party for the kids on the peds floor it was already in full swing. They knew that Emmett was way too young to actually enjoy the party but it was important for them to make an appearance as they were one of the leading pediatric attending surgeons and the head of the department. The parents of the kids always liked to see the doctors attending the functions for the floor.

After saying hello to some of the more long-term patients and their families, they were finally able to make it to their friends who had congregated around one of the candy bowls.

"Look at how cute he is," Teddy fawned over the baby in the cuddly brown costume.

Cristina let a small smile grace her lips before she rolled her eyes, "A bear? Really? Aren't you taking this nickname a bit too far?"

Alex just growled at Cristina and turned his attention back to Emmett who was starting to whimper at all of the attention he was getting. A trip to the doctor and then the hospital party was sending him into sensory overload.

"So I get that Arizona's a pirate but I don't get what you are," Meredith commented as she looked at her friends. She knew that they would likely be the only two other doctors dressed up. This was the first year that Meredith dressed up for the party. She didn't want to disappoint her daughter so she dug through her closet to find some clothes from the 80s. Meredith knew what Arizona was trying to be. Arizona was wearing tall boots, a thick belt and lots of gold jewelry helped to make it easy that she was a pirate even without the eye patch resting on her forehead. A very tasteful and well dressed pirate, but still a pirate. But she had no idea what Alex was dressed as.

Alex pulled his shirt open and revealed the Superman symbol.

"Oh! Clark Kent. I get it now but don't you think that's a little obscure for the kids?" Meredith asked.

"That's what I said," Arizona agreed which caused Alex to launch into a speech about the current state of the superhero world.

It didn't take long after their arrival for Arizona's appearance to be noticed by the pediatrics staff. Every time she visited the hospital while on maternity leave she had avoided going to her floor because she didn't want to get roped into having to deal with work issues. She was on leave; it wasn't her job to fix their problems. For the next ten days, Dr. Sears was still in charge of the pediatrics department but that didn't mean that they weren't going to try and get her to override his decisions while they had a chance. What the staff didn't realize was that Arizona had approved all of the decisions that Dr. Sears had made. They kept in touch via e-mail and anytime there was an issue, Arizona was called for her opinion. But Arizona was by nature a people pleaser so she let herself be pulled away from her friends to listen to what they had to say. She smiled and nodded and at the end she informed them of the same thing she had said to them before she left – to take any issues up with acting department head, Dr. Sears.

After finally moving on from the doctors and nurses, Arizona was able to do what she really wanted to do at the Halloween party which was to see and catch up with her patients. She quickly found herself sitting at a table working on creating a work of art out of a brown paper bag that was to be used by the kids later in the day for trick-or-treating throughout the hospital. After drawing a perfect jack-o-lantern she finally returned to the table where her friends had settled. Cristina was feeding Emmett a bottle so she could only assume that Emmett had declared his hunger sometime recently.

"You know Yang, if someone sees you like this they might think that you actually like him," Arizona teased as she took a seat next to Alex.

"Shut it or I'll make him cry," Yang hissed.

"So are you guys taking him trick-or treating?" Callie asked.

Arizona shook her head negatively, "We're just handing out candy at home. He's way too little and I don't need all that candy around the house. Alex on a sugar high is not good for anyone. We've got pictures of him in his costume and that's all that we really need for his first Halloween."

"Plus, Arizona's afraid of the teenagers that might try to scare her if we go trick-or-treating," Alex said. Everyone at the table thought that he was just teasing his wife but he knew that Arizona's lingering issues of being scared didn't make her want to participate in Halloween as more than just a spectator.

Arizona slapped his shoulder in retaliation and Emmett started crying.

"See even Emmett doesn't want you to tease me," Arizona said as she took Emmett from Cristina. He had finished his bottle and needed to be burped. "You're my protector, right munchkin?" Arizona asked softly as she gently patted his back, encouraging him to burp.

Alex wrapped his arm around Arizona and pulled her into his body. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear as she continued to burp the baby. "It's not your fault that you're a scaredy cat. It's your brother's."

"Damn right," Arizona agreed. With one last loud burp, Arizona felt Emmett slump down in her arms. He was always sleepy after eating. "I'm going to get him home so that he's rested up for tonight."

Alex grabbed Emmett's bag and stood up, "I'll walk you guys out."

"Wait!" Meredith shouted before they could get out of the room. She held up a camera. "Let me get a picture really quick."

Arizona shifted Emmett into a sitting position in her arms so that his face could be seen in the picture and Alex wrapped his arm around Arizona's lower back. All three smiled for the picture as Meredith took it. It wasn't lost on Meredith that exactly one year prior she first noticed just how much like a family Alex and Arizona looked together. A year ago she never would have thought that they'd actually be a family but they were and they even had a baby.

**…**

"I can't do this, Alex. I can't," Arizona looked up at Alex with tears in her eyes as she sat rocking Emmett in the nursery.

Alex sighed and kneeled down next to her so that his arms were resting on her legs. He knew that this was going to be a difficult day and that he needed to straddle a fine line of supporting his wife as well as pushing her to do what she needed to do. "He's going to be fine, Zo," Alex rubbed her thighs. "You've pumped enough milk for a week it seems like so he's not going to go hungry. He's going to be safe in a crib all day with everyone doting on his every need and desire. You saw them when we visited last week. Everyone loved him."

"But what about when he gets fussy and they can't calm him down? They don't know the tricks for calming him down," Arizona continued to protest as she held tight to the baby in her arms.

"They'll learn. We'll tell them the tricks and maybe they have their own tricks that might work on him too." Alex glanced at his watch. They needed to leave soon if they were going to make it to work on time and Arizona made sure to schedule a surgery first thing as a way to force her to not linger in the daycare. "And you can go see him every free chance you get."

"Why did six weeks have to go by so fast?" Arizona whined. "I'm not ready. It's too soon."

Alex stood up and reached down for Arizona's hand. It was time to force her to get up and to the car. She reluctantly let herself be pulled up out of the rocking chair. "Just think about what else can happen at six weeks post-partum," Alex said quietly into Arizona's ears as she stood up.

"I can finally start working out again? I've got ten more pounds to lose before I'm back at pre-baby weight," Arizona teased knowing full well that Alex wasn't referencing working out.

"What I'm thinking of is a workout," Alex mused. Going six weeks without sex wasn't as difficult as Alex had thought it was going to be. They were so exhausted at the end of the day that having sex wasn't even a consideration but now that sex was back on the table it was all Alex could think about.

"Alex, stop drooling and grab Emmett's bag," Arizona admonished when she saw that Alex was rooted in place.

Alex shook the sexy thoughts out of his head as he grabbed the bag that Arizona had painstakingly prepared the night before. Arizona made sure that he had everything he could possibly need which meant that she packed up half of the nursery. Alex slung the heavy bag onto his shoulder and followed his wife downstairs to the garage.

Thirty minutes later Arizona was standing by the daycare refusing to go inside.

Alex hated seeing Arizona so upset but he knew that she needed to rip off the band-aid. If she waited much longer he wasn't sure that she was going to go to work that day.

"Do you want me to drop him off?" Alex asked as he watched Arizona try to garner the courage to let him go.

Arizona shook her head violently and clung onto Emmett even more. "No!" she admonished like Alex was trying to steal her baby away.

"Okay," Alex said softly and rubbed her back, trying to calm her back down. "But can I hold him for a minute to say goodbye. I promise you I'll give him right back."

Arizona made eye contact with Alex and glared at him. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Arizona reluctantly let go of the baby.

Alex spent a minute doing his normal goodbye routine with the baby. Since Emmett was awake and alert he took some time to make goofy faces at the boy that were being rewarded more and more often with smiles now that Emmett was smiling regularly. With one last kiss he passed Emmett back to his mother.

"Arizona, it's time to go. You have surgery soon. Lea Palmer's gallbladder surgery," Alex emphasized that Arizona was needed at work. He knew that Arizona would never flake out on work. Not when her job involved saving children.

Arizona sighed, "Okay. I can do this." Arizona then put on her best fake smile and looked down at the baby. "Mommy has to go to work now, Mett. But you are going to be well taken care of today. And Daddy and I are going to come see you every chance we get."

"Every couple of hours, buddy," Alex added.

"So you be good and I'll see you after my surgery and then I can tell you all about how I fixed a little girl's gallbladder."

"You ready?" Alex asked when Arizona looked up at him.

Arizona nodded and Alex keyed in the code for door to the daycare. With a few last kisses and even some tears, Arizona was able to leave Emmett in the trusty care of the hospital daycare workers.

Arizona tried to rein in the tears as she made her way up toward her patient on the pediatric floor. Her only consolation that morning was the fact that as surgeons, her and Alex's work weeks were typically only on average of four days a week because of the longer shifts that they worked. Added to that fact was that typically, they only share two of their three days off a week meant that Emmett would on average only have to be in daycare three days a week. That thought made her feel somewhat better about leaving him in daycare. She would just have to make sure that Emmett understood that he wasn't allowed to do anything new without her there to witness it. She couldn't bear to think about missing his milestones.

The first day went better than Arizona thought. It was difficult to not be with Emmett all day, every day but it did help that Arizona knew that he was in the same building as her. She kept busy with a morning full of surgeries and the afternoon full of catching up on department happenings and paperwork. She was able to see Emmett three times throughout the day. She even had enough time to feed him lunch so that he didn't have to take a bottle. While Emmett was pretty good about taking a bottle of pumped milk, he always ate more from the source. When she visited in the afternoon the daycare director had told her that she had just missed Alex who was able to give him a bottle and rock him to sleep. At the end of the day Alex and Arizona returned together to pick him up and he was given an excellent report by the daycare workers. When they got home they had to start a whole new routine with Emmett. Getting home after six in the evening left very little time to play and bond with Emmett before his bedtime. They cheated by picking up pizza on the way home so that they didn't have to waste precious time in their evening with Emmett by being in the kitchen making dinner. Arizona wanted to get a lot accomplished during Evening Emmett Time. EET consisted of much hated tummy time, stimulation with toys, practice at grabbing things, bath time, feeding time and then finally story time before he was put down for bed. By the time Emmett was put to bed at eight o'clock, all three members of the Karev family were exhausted. It took everything Arizona had to make it to the shower before throwing herself into bed; luckily Alex was there to hold her up or she might have fallen asleep against the shower wall.

"I'm never going to sleep again," Arizona sighed as she finally crawled underneath the covers in bed.

Alex quickly followed her into bed and spooned her from behind. "Probably not."

"That's not what I wanted to hear," Arizona turned her head to glare at Alex.

Alex kissed her shoulder, "I know but I promised I'd never lie to you."

"Today was hard."

Alex squeezed her firmly, "I know."

"Please tell me it gets easier," Arizona said as she rolled over so that she was on her back, looking up at Alex.

Alex tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "I think it will. At least that's what they all say. Plus your parents will be here next week for two weeks so they will help."

"But that also means that they will keep the munchkin during the day so I won't be able to just drop in and see him in daycare," Arizona lamented the downside of having her parents in town.

Alex leaned down and placed a firm kiss on her lips. He was determined to take the frown off of her face. "Well, we'll make sure they bring him to the hospital for lunch every day so we at least get to see him once during the day. And it's going to be so good for Emmett to get to spend so much time with his grandparents."

"Because the two-month old will care about who is cuddling him."

"He recognizes people that he spends the most time with now. He's like a dog. He knows our scent and our voices. He'll learn theirs as well," Alex joked.

"Tell me you did not just compare our baby to a dog," Arizona chastised him. She was clearly not in the mood for Alex's jokes.

"It's the truth," Alex said as he dug his fingers into her sides and tickled. He was trying to elicit some type of happiness out of the grump that was his wife.

"Stop," she whined as Alex continued to tickle her.

Alex didn't stop, "You are acting like Emmett with all the sad faces and whining. And one baby is way more than I can handle right now so no, I will not stop until I see you smile."

"Not gonna happen, Karev," Arizona huffed and shook her head.

Alex wasn't deterred by her stubbornness. He was used to her making him work for it. He wasn't going to give up. "No?" he asked as he moved so that he was straddling her waist as he shifted his hands lower on her body. He knew that the area right behind her thighs was the most ticklish part of her body. "You sure?" he asked as he positioned his hands in place.

"Nope," she continued to be stubborn.

"Okay, you asked for it," Alex drawled before he unleashed his attack. He had given her a chance to smile on her own but she refused.

When Alex's fingers dug into her thighs Arizona lost it. She started cackling and squirming to get out of his grasp. "No, no, no," Arizona repeated as she tried to get away.

Alex grabbed her hand that was trying to push him off of her and pinned her down. When he looked up at her face she was smiling and shaking her head at him. He had succeeded. He decided to take a chance on his next move. He knew that she was exhausted and probably wouldn't be game but he needed to try. Alex shot her a sly smile before leaning down and latching on to her neck.

"Alex," Arizona moaned. All traces of laughter had left her. "I would love to," she said while moving her neck so that Alex had more room to work his magic. "But I'm so tired."

Alex looked up at her and grinned before stripping his shirt off and leaning down to take hers off as well. "You don't have to do anything, babe. I'll do all the work. I'll be quick," Alex said as he moved to strip off both of their pants. Never did Alex ever think that telling a girl he would be quick would be a turn-on but in this case it was. Alex kissed his way back up Arizona's leg and toward her breasts. He felt Arizona's breath hitch when he reached her abdomen. He knew she was probably being self-conscious about her post-baby body. When he felt her pull him back up toward her face and away from her body, he knew that he was right.

Alex continued to assault her neck with open-mouthed kisses before stopping right by her ear, "You are so freaking gorgeous, Arizona." Alex let his hand trail down her body. He lingered on her breasts, lightly palming them and squeezing softly before moving down toward her stomach. "Every part of you is gorgeous," he reaffirmed as he worked on her neck some more. "Just looking at you turns me on. Which isn't good when we work together because the sight of your perfect ass in scrubs is just too much for me to take. All I wanted to do today was push you up against your office wall and take you."

"God," Arizona moaned at Alex's words and actions. He was definitely turning her on as he continued to explore her body with his hands.

Alex loved being able to make Arizona feel good and he had no intention of stopping. Alex continued to tell her just how much he loved her body as he worshipped her. He wanted to wipe away any trace of self-doubt about her body and he did that the best way he knew possible – he showed her.

**…**

Alex held the door open as Arizona walked into the familiar, dingy bar. It had been a few months since she had been to Joe's but nothing had changed, not that she expected it to be any different.

Joe immediately noticed them as they strolled up to the bar. "Long time, no see, Dr. Robbins."

"Hey Joe," Arizona greeted him as she sat on a bar stool in front of him.

Alex pulled up a stool next to her, "I'll take a Red Hook."

"And for you?" Joe asked the blonde in front of him.

"Ginger ale," Arizona answered. She went alcohol free as she was breastfeeding. Even though she could have one drink if she pumped and dumped but that was more effort than it was worth for a beer.

"How's the baby?" Joe asked as he delivered their drinks and an answer sheet for the night's trivia game.

Arizona smiled, "Doing great. It's hard to believe he's two months old already. He's getting so big."

"I've got pictures," Alex immediately brought out his phone and pulled up pictures of Emmett to show off. As soon as he had a recent picture up he shoved the phone at Joe. The two men started flicking through the pictures as Alex explained the stories behind them.

"Don't mind my husband, Joe. He has like two hundred pictures of Emmett on there so if you don't say stop he's going to keep you here all night looking at them," Arizona tried to save the barkeeper from looking at twenty different pictures of Emmett blowing bubbles from his mouth.

Joe paid no attention to Arizona and kept oohing and ahhing at the pictures that Alex was showing him. When they got to a picture of Emmett's first real smile, Joe instinctively pulled out his own phone and showed Alex a picture of his daughters' first day of pre-school. The two proud papas' couldn't get enough of showing off their children.

They finally had to put the phones away when it was time to start trivia. It had been a few months since Alex and Arizona had been able to make it to trivia night but when Barbara and Daniel forced the couple out of the house for some alone time they immediately knew where they would spend their night.

With game time approaching, Alex and Arizona grabbed their drinks and made their way to a table in the back of the bar. They had learned after a year of playing not to camp out at the bar during trivia – there were too many prying ears up there looking to steal answers. They were surprised to see some familiar faces at the table next to them.

"What are you guys doing here?" Alex asked the friends that also had a trivia scorecard in front of them.

Callie shrugged her shoulders, "We've been coming here for a couple of months now."

"It seemed like a good date idea. After all it worked for you two," Mark added as he took a sip of his beer.

"I'm just here for the free beer," Cristina added as she poured the last of the pitcher of beer into Owen's glass.

"Huh," Arizona mused. She never thought that she and Alex would ever be used as a model for a relationship. They worked well together now but they had gone through a lot to get to that point.

"Where's Emmett tonight?" Owen asked, trying to make conversation before the game started.

"With his Papa and Nana," Arizona answered.

"Being spoiled, I'm sure," Callie smiled. She'd met Arizona's parents a handful of times and knew that they were the type of people that were hard on their own children but would spoil their grandchildren rotten.

"I don't know how it is possible to spoil an eight week old but they manage to do it," Alex agreed. "So, have you guys won at trivia at all?" Alex wanted to know what his competition was going to be like.

Mark shook his head, "We've come close but no W yet."

"This is only our second week playing with these boneheads," Cristina pointed at Mark and Callie. "They got sick of losing and had to call in some back up."

The buzzer sounded through the bar signaling that trivia was about to begin and all conversation ceased between the friends. Trivia was not a friendly time. Mark, Callie, Cristina and Owen were now the enemy. Trivia typically lasted one hour and at the halfway intermission, Alex and Arizona were in the lead. They didn't get cocky about being in the lead. They were often leading at half and would lose in the end. As the last half hour went on, Alex and Arizona both started paying less attention to the game and more attention to their watches and phones.

"Final question," Joe announced to the bar. "You can wager any or all of your points – just like Jeopardy." Joe then pulled a slip of paper from a fish bowl, "And the category is – sports."

Mark grinned like a cheshire cat when the sports category was announced. "We're going to bet it all," he said loudly.

Alex and Arizona knew that he was making sure that they heard him. He wanted them to know that they were gunning for Alex and Arizona who were in second place while the others were in third.

Alex leaned in close to Arizona so that no one could hear him, "What do you say?"

"Let's go all in. What have we got to lose?" Arizona answered as she leaned her forehead against his.

Alex quickly entered in their wager before time ran out. He knew that they had a good chance winning against their friends. Mark and Callie probably knew sports trivia but Cristina didn't know anything about sports and Owen wasn't really into them either.

"And now for the question. Who has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated a record forty-nine times? You have one minute to lock your answer in," Joe's voice boomed throughout the bar and the countdown started.

Arizona and Alex huddled together so that no one could hear them debate the answers. They both came up with a few possibilities before finally coming to a resolution. They were pretty sure that they had the right answer but with trivia they knew that the answer was not always the most obvious one.

After time expired, it was time for Joe to tabulate the winner. It normally took at least five minutes to determine the winner. During the wait both Alex and Arizona continued to be distracted and looking at their watches.

"Are you thinking what I am?" Arizona asked as she caught Alex looking at his watch again. She was hoping that they were on the same wavelength but she wasn't sure.

"That if we leave now we can be home just in time to see Emmett before he falls back asleep after his nine o'clock feeding?" Alex asked to see if she was thinking the same thing.

"I miss him," Arizona admitted. She really wanted to enjoy their night out but after a couple of hours she was more than ready to get home to her baby.

Alex stood up from the table and grabbed their jackets, "Me too."

"It's just that we were at work all day and he was home with Mom and Dad and now we're here," Arizona explained why she wanted to go home even though it was supposed to be their one night without having to think about the baby.

"I get it," Alex silenced his wife with a kiss before helping her put her coat on. "In our defense we've only seen him for like two hours today."

Their friends noticed that they looked like they were getting ready to go.

"You guys are going?" Callie asked curiously.

"Yeah," Arizona answered as she grabbed Alex's hand, ready to get to the car so they could get home.

"But we don't even know who won yet!" Cristina interjected. She was so competitive that she couldn't understand how they could leave without knowing the winner.

"We never win so it won't be a surprise that we didn't win tonight," Arizona supplied. Not caring about leaving before the winner was announced.

Alex just shrugged, "We're _those_ people now. The lame couple going home early to the kid."

"Have a good night," Arizona added before she pulled Alex toward the door. The more time they spent dawdling in the bar the less time they'd have with Emmett before he fell asleep.

Moments after they exited, Joe made his way to the back of the bar looking for them. His face fell when the couple was no longer at the table that they had been occupying throughout trivia.

"Where'd they go?" Joe asked the table of surgeons, hoping that the others had just gone to the bathroom or something else.

"Home," Owen answered for the group.

"But they won," Joe said dejectedly. "They've been playing trivia almost every week for three years and always lose and now that they finally win they aren't here!"

Callie contemplated Joe's statement about Arizona and Alex always losing. The way Callie saw it Alex and Arizona had been winning all along. They had each other first as friends and then as partners and now they even had a baby. While they might have never won trivia before, it was because of trivia nights that they had found each other as more than just a boss and a student.

"Sucks for them," Mark said while Callie was thinking in her own world. "But since they aren't here, can we get their prize?"

"Yeah, can we?" Cristina asked as well. She was counting on winning the bar tab to pay for her night of drinking.

Joe just shook his head and walked away.

Callie hit Mark in the shoulder, "No. They won it. They'll just get it the next time they come in."

**…**

Alex and Arizona made it home just as Barbara had finished giving Emmett his bottle and was going to put him back into his crib for bed. She wasn't too surprised to see the couple home early. They had actually stayed out longer than she thought they would for it being their first time going out without him. Emmett's tiredness immediately went away when he heard his parents voices. Alex and Arizona didn't mind having to rock him back to sleepiness as that just meant more time that they got to spend with him.

"You know I was thinking earlier that it's been almost three years exactly since our first trivia game together," Alex reminisced as they cuddled in bed together after getting Emmett put to bed.

Arizona wrapped Alex's arms around her tighter, "You mean when you forced me into playing with you."

"You cannot be forced into doing anything, Arizona. You're too stubborn for that. Plus, you're the one that kept coming back for more," Alex kissed her shoulder.

Arizona rolled over in Alex's arms so that she was looking at him, "Well, it's a good thing that I did otherwise we wouldn't be here right now."

Alex closed the distance between their lips and kissed her softly but passionately, "A very good thing."

**…**

A/N: I just want to thank everyone who has been reading over the last few months. I truly appreciate everyone who has taken the time out of their lives to read my story - especially those of you who have reviewed or sent me a note. I'm moving out of the country next week and won't be settled for awhile but hopefully you'll see me back with something new sooner rather than later. Thanks again and I hope you enjoyed it.


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